Expression of the amylase gene in the rat exocrine pancreas during postnatal development: effect of dexamethasone

Exocrine cell transdifferentiation in dexamethasone-treated rat pancreas

Injured pancreatic tissue, for example, after duct ligation, undergoes remodeling, which involves the replacement of exocrine acini by duct-like structures. This acinoductal metaplasia is probably at least partly due to transdifferentiation of amylase-positive, cytokeratin-20 (CK20)-negative acinar cells into amylase-negative, CK20-positive duct-like cells. Due to the kinetics of these phenotypic changes, however, it has not been possible to demonstrate transitional stages of differentiation, which would express both markers at the same time. We took advantage of the fact that dexamethasone treatment inhibits the loss of amylase from acinar cells to demonstrate transitional cells co-expressing amylase and CK20. This was found both in vivo, where duct-ligation induced metaplasia, and in vitro, after isolation of acini. In addition, we found evidence for an acinar-to-islet conversion under the form of transitional cells co-expressing amylase and insulin. These observations strengthen the notion that fully differentiated cells, such as exocrine pancreatic cells, retain the capacity to undergo important phenotypic switches. This finding could have applications in tissue engineering or cell replacement strategies.

Effect of thyroxine on pancreatic digestive enzymes and ornithine decarboxylase gene expression in neonatal rats

BACKGROUND

Thyroxine has been shown to play a role in the development of exocrine pancreatic enzymes in neonatal rats.

METHODS

To further evaluate the regulatory mechanisms for thyroxine in pancreatic development, we examined the changes in the expression of pancreatic enzymes (amylase and trypsinogen) and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) genes following daily injection of thyroxine for 5 and 10 days to neonatal rats (5 days old).

RESULTS

Total pancreatic proteins and DNA contents as well as the activity of ODC and exocrine enzymes were significantly increased after 5 and 10 days of thyroxine treatment. These increases were associated with parallel alterations (to three to fourfold rise) in steady-state mRNA levels of both amylase and trypsinogen. In contrast, thyroxine only produced a 57-68% increase in steady-state ODC mRNA levels.

CONCLUSIONS

These data suggest that thyroxine stimulated the express of amylase and trypsinogen genes partly due to increased transcriptional rate and/ or decreased mRNA turnover. Thyroxine also stimulated ODC gene expression. However, the stimulatory mechanisms may involve transnational or posttranslational regulation of ODC and are independent of thyroxine effects.

Interaction of nonylphenol and hepatic CYP1A in rats

Both estradiol and nonylphenol (NP) inhibited hepatic microsomal 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity of beta-naphthoflavone-treated rats. Enzyme kinetic analyses (Lineweaver-Burk plots) using different estradiol and NP concentrations with graded increases in the concentrations of the substrate, ethoxyresorufin, showed that the inhibition was of a competitive nature at all concentrations of estradiol or NP used. Thus, the mechanism by which NP inhibits EROD activity is similar to that of estradiol. NP, however, was much less potent than estradiol. Young rats treated in vivo with 80 mg/kg body weight of NP demonstrated a slight but significant decrease in their hepatic microsomal EROD activity and CYP1A protein as measured by western blot analysis. In addition, treatment with NP led to a decrease in the steady-state levels of hepatic CYP1A mRNA in rats, suggesting that NP acted at the pre-translational level. The competitive nature of inhibition by NP on hepatic microsomal EROD activity indirectly suggests that this compound is a possible substrate of the CYP1A enzyme. Furthermore, NP had a moderate modulating effect on the expression of CYP1A in rat liver.

Control of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase expression by glucocorticoids in the rat pancreas. Correlation with granule formation

Glucocorticoids are known to promote the formation of zymogen granules in acinar cells of the exocrine pancreas in vivo as well as in vitro. To gain insight into the mechanism of this regulation, we studied the effects of glucocorticoids on the synthesis of two components of the secretory granule membrane, the glycoprotein 2 (GP-2) and the gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT). It was demonstrated that following adrenalectomy, degranulation of pancreatic acinar cells is accompanied by a sharp decrease in GGT and GP-2 synthesis as measured by mRNA and protein accumulation. The decline of GGT synthesis was prevented by glucocorticoid replacement therapy, whereas GP-2 synthesis could be maintained with either glucocorticoid or estradiol treatment. These in vivo observations were corroborated and extended in an in vitro study using AR42J pancreatic cells. With this cell line, it was demonstrated that dexamethasone induces the formation of zymogen granules and the accumulation of a specific GGT transcript (mRNA III) by decreasing its degradation rate. At the same time, the GP-2 mRNA level was not modified by the hormonal treatment. These data demonstrate that glucocorticoids exert a positive control on the GGT expression in pancreatic cells at a post-transcriptional level. GGT, an enzyme of the glutathione metabolism, could play a significant role in protein packaging in secretory cells.

Expression of ornithine decarboxylase in pancreatic development

We examined the relationship between ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and growth and differentiation in the developing rat exocrine pancreas. The ODC activity profile showed 2 distinct stages of increases with the first occurred at 14-16 days of age, and a second at 21-23 days of age. Growth parameters evaluated as gains in tissue mass, protein and DNA content in the pancreas indicated a low growth rate soon after birth with a transition to a much more rapid growth rate around the age of 20-21 days, a time corresponded to the second rise in ODC activity. Differentiation parameters evaluated as the accumulation of trypsinogen, amylase and lipase showed different temporal changes. While the rate of accumulation of all three enzymes was relatively low following birth, a rapid rate of accumulation of trypsinogen and amylase started around 15-16 days, a time corresponding to the first rise in ODC activity. Lipase, however, did not show an increase in its accumulation until around age 20 days. These results indicate that a rise in ODC activity is closely associated with growth and differentiation in the developing rat pancreas. To further examine this issue, the steady state levels of ODC mRNA in developing rats were evaluated by Northern blots probed with an ODC cDNA. The developmental profile of ODC mRNA showed a broad peak with a pronounced shoulder occurring at 10 days of age. A higher peak was reached around 20 days of age, then dropped precipitously to a very low level at the age of 24 days. This temporal changes in the level of ODC mRNA show good relationship to the changes in ODC activity suggesting that the control of ODC expression occurs at least in part at the pre-translational level.

Normalization of pancreatic exocrine enzymes by islet transplantation in diabetic rats

In an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of islet transplantation in correcting exocrine dysfunction, young male Lewis rats were made diabetic by i.v. streptozotocin injection. Diabetes status was confirmed by decrease in insulin and increase in blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin levels. Pancreatic islets were isolated from age-matched control syngeneic rats by collagenase digestion followed by purification through a Ficoll gradient. Islets (approximately 1200) were grafted to the liver by intraportal injection to animals at 8 weeks after diabetes was established. Transplanted rats were sacrificed 4 weeks after correction of hyperglycemia. Diabetes resulted in decrease in body weight. Transplantation reversed the body weight loss and led to a body weight gain. Diabetes resulted in a decrease in pancreatic amylase (1.4 +/- 0.4 U/mg protein compared with a control value of 121.9 +/- 3.2 U/mg protein) and a slight increase in lipase (87.3 +/- 5.5 U/mg protein compared with a control value of 69 +/- 4.7 U/mg protein). Transplantation completely normalized amylase (132.2 +/- 25.0 U/mg protein) and lipase (56.3 +/- 3.9 U/mg protein) in spite of an imperfect correction of blood insulin, glucose, and glycosylated haemoglobin levels in these rats. These data demonstrated that islet transplantation is very effective in correcting the exocrine enzyme changes resulting from diabetes. Evaluation of steady-state levels of amylase mRNA in these groups of animals by Northern blots showed a decrease in the amylase mRNA level in diabetes and a return to that of control in transplanted rats, indicating that the control of amylase expression is most likely at the pretranslational level.

Trypsinogen expression by two human pancreatic cell lines CFPAC-1 and CAPAN-1. Modulation during spontaneous and induced cell growth

We previously demonstrated that two human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell lines, CFPAC-1 (established from a patient with cystic fibrosis) and CAPAN-1, were able to secrete trypsinogens 1 and 2 specifically. In order to analyze the relation of trypsin secretion to differentiation and cell growth, we undertook a comparative study of immunoreactive trypsin 1 (IRT) secretion by the two cell lines during cell growth in the presence and in the absence of various differentiating agents: sodium butyrate (NaBut), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), and dexamethasone (DX). In the presence of NaBut, IRT levels in the supernatants of both cell lines were slightly increased, whereas the cellular growth of both cell lines decreased significantly. In the presence of DX, IRT levels in cell culture conditioned media immediately and dramatically decreased, but the cell growth of neither cell line was affected by DX. An important increase in IRT levels was observed when CFPAC-1 cells and CAPAN-1 cells were grown in the presence of DMSO, but for both cell lines the cellular growth decreased in the presence of DMSO. Our data show that neither the IRT secretion level nor the differentiation state of these cell lines correlates with cellular growth, and suggests that the expression of pancreatic proteases by these two tumor cell lines could be either related to a common stem cell with this potential or to a possible acinar origin of pancreatic cancer, as recently proposed by others.

Thyroxine control of pancreatic amylase gene expression: modulation of PTF1 binding activity

The role of pancreas specific transcription factor (PTF1) in thyroxine (T4) modulation of amylase gene expression in suckling rats was evaluated. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) was used to determine the PTF1 binding activity by the amount of a synthetic oligonucleotide containing the amylase enhancer sequence bound by nuclear protein extracts. Nuclear protein from rat pancreata showed a developmental increase of PTFI activity correlated with age. To study the action of T4, pups were made hyperthyroid by T4 injection and hypothyroid by feeding propylthiouracil (PTU) to the lactating dams. EMSA of nuclear proteins isolated from these groups showed an increase in PTF1 binding activity in the T4 group and a decrease in the PTU group. Concomitantly, T4 increased, while PTU decreased both amylase enzyme and mRNA concentrations. T4 replacement reversed the effect of PTU on PTF1 binding, amylase enzyme activity and mRNA levels. To examine the age dependence of T4 effects, T4 was injected to pups for 5 days prior to killing at the age of 15, and 25 days. T4 was effective when given at an earlier age (15 days) but not at a later stage (25 days) in increasing amylase activity and amylase mRNA levels. Nuclear proteins isolated from pancreata of these groups showed an increase in PTF1 binding activity in the T4-treated 15-day-olds but not in the 25-day-olds in comparison to their corresponding age matched littermates. These results suggest that PTF1 is an important intermediary in T4 modulation of amylase gene expression during ontogeny of the rat exocrine pancreas.