Mammalian bombesin-like peptides are widely distributed in the central nervous system as well as in the gastrointestinal tract, where they modulate smooth-muscle contraction, exocrine and endocrine processes, metabolism, and behavior. They bind to G protein-coupled receptors on the cell surface to elicit their effects. Bombesin-like peptide receptors include gastrin-releasing peptide receptor, neuromedin B receptor, and bombesin-like receptor-3 (BRS3; this article).[7][8]
BB3 is a G protein-coupled receptor.[6] BB3 only interacts with known naturally occurring bombesin-related peptides with low affinity and therefore, as it has no natural high-affinity ligand, is classified as an orphan receptor.[6][9][10]
