Pancreatic acinar cells: the role of calcium in stimulus-secretion coupling

1. Segments of mouse or rat pancreas were placed in a flow cell through which physiological salt solutions of varying composition were pumped at a constant rate. Intracellular recordings of membrane potential, resistance and electrical time constant were made from the acini using fine glass micro-electrodes. In some experiments two micro-electrodes were inserted into two acinar cells within the same acinus to assess directly cell to cell coupling. The concentration of amylase in the effluent was measured continuously. 2. Electrical coupling between two acinar cells was observed when the tips of the two micro-electrodes were less than 50 mum from each other. The coupling ratio was close to 1. Acetylcholine (ACh) always evoked depolarization of exactly the same amplitude in two coupled cells and reduced the amplitude of current-pulse induced membrane potential changes in both cell simultaneously. 3. Stimulation with ACh caused an immediate increase in amylase output. Replacement of superfusion fluid Na by Tris or Cl by sulphate abolished ACh-evoked increase in amylase release, but the subsequent reintroduction of Na or Cl caused an increase in amylase release of a magnitude similar to what was normally observed following stimulation. 4. Omitting Ca from the superfusion fluid and adding EGTA rapidly depolarized the acinar cell membrane, reduced the input resistance and caused a marked reduction in amylase secretion. During exposure to a Ca-free, EGTA containing solution a marked increase in amylase release occurred following maximal ACh stimulation. 5. Addition of small amounts of Mg, Ca or Mn to a Ca-, Mg-free solution caused an increase in membrane potential, input resistance and electrical time constant and markedly increased amylase release. The effect on the electrical parameters was reversed in the absence of extracellular Na while extracellular Na was of no importance for the effect on amylase release. 6. The effect of ACh on amylase was enhanced during superfusion with a fluid containing 20 mM-Ca. The presence of Mn (5 mM) in an otherwise normal control had no effect on ACh-evoked release. 7. These results show that ACh acts on the acinus by reducing the surface cell membrane resistance. It is suggested that the ACh-receptor interaction causes a release of Ca from the surface cell membrane and that the concentration of Ca in the surface cell membrane determines the specific membrane resistance particularly for Na. The release of Ca to the cytosol activates exocytosis while the Na influx is of importance for acinar fluid secretion. The effect of ACh on amylase secretion can be mimicked by agents displacing membrane-bound Ca (Mg, Ca, Mn).

Pancreatic acinar cells: effect of acetylcholine, pancreozymin, gastrin and secretin on membrane potential and resistance in vivo and in vitro

1. Intracellular recordings of membrane potential and input resistance have been made in vivo and in vitro from the exocrine acinar cells of rat pancreas using indwelling glass micro-electrodes. 2. The resting cell membrane potential and input resistance in the in vivo experiments were not markedly different from the values obtained in the in vitro experiments. The effect of both acetylcholine (ACh) and pancreozymin (CCK-Pz) on the pancreas in vivo as well as in vitro was to reduce both the acinar cell membrane potential and the input resistance narkedly. The amplitude of the evoked depolarization and the change in input resistance evoked by supramaximal stimuli were of the same magnitude in both types of preparations. 3. Gastrin had an effect on the acinar cell potential and resistance which was indistinguishable from that of CCK-Pz or ACh. The effect of gastrin or CCK-Pz was, in contrast to that of ACh, not influenced by the presence of atropine. The reversal potential for the gastrin evoked potential change was about -20 mV. 4. Secretin in doses producing maximal volume secretion in vivo had no effect on acinar cell membrane potential and input resistance. 5. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP (5mM) and cyclic GMP (1mM) had no effect on cell membrane potential or resistance. 6. It is concluded that the in vitro superfused pancreas segment preparation is a useful model system in electrophysiological studies since it functions essentially as the in vivo preparation. In contrast to both gastrin and CCK-Pz, secretin has no effect on the bioelectrical properties of the acinar cells, indicating that there are no physiologically important secretin receptors in rat acinar cells.

Appearance of basophils in the sputum of patients with bronchial asthma

A total of 108 samples of sputum obtained from twenty patients with bronchial asthma were examined for appearance of basophils and eosinophils. Both cell types are present in sputum during an asthmatic attack and disappear at the conclusion of the attack. Their presence correlates with the severity of the disease. It has previously been demonstrated that the blood basophils count falls during attacks of bronchial asthma, and the present study suggests that basophils move from the blood stream into bronchial tissue during the acute phase of an asthmatic attack.

Proceedings: Control of amylase secretion in the parotid gland

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