Effects of cholera toxin on cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate concentration and secretory processes in the exocrine pancreas

Mouse pancreatic acinar/ductular tissue gives rise to epithelial cultures that are morphologically, biochemically, and functionally indistinguishable from interlobular duct cell cultures

Most of the pancreatic exocrine epithelium consists of acinar and intralobular duct (ductular) cells, with the balance consisting of interlobular and main duct cells. Fragments of mouse acinar/ductular epithelium can be isolated by partial digestion with collagenase and purified by Ficoll density gradient centrifugation. We investigated whether previously developed culture conditions used for duct epithelium would result in the selective survival and proliferation of ductular cells from the acinar/ductular fragments. The fragments were cultured on nitrocellulose filters coated with extracellular matrix. After 2 to 4 wk the filters were covered with proliferating cells resembling parallel cultures of duct epithelium by the following criteria: protein/DNA ratio, light and electron microscopic appearance, the presence of duct markers (carbonic anhydrase [CA] activity, CA II mRNA, the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator), the near absence of acinar cell markers (amylase and chymotrypsin), a similar polypeptide profile after sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and the presence of spontaneous and secretin-stimulated electrogenic ion transport. Both duct and ductular epithelia formed fluid-filled cysts in collagen gels and both could be subcultured. We conclude that acinar/ductular tissue gives rise to ductular cells in culture by some combination of acinar cell death and/or transdifferentiation to a ductular phenotype, accompanied by proliferation of these cells and preexisting ductular cells. These cultures may be used to investigate the properties of this part of the pancreatic duct system, from which most of the pancreatic juice water and electrolytes probably originates.

Rat pancreatic interlobular duct epithelium: isolation and culture in collagen gel

Interlobular duct fragments from the pancreas of the rat were isolated by collagenase digestion and filtration, embedded in a matrix of rat-tail collagen, and cultured in a 1:1 mixture of Dulbecco's minimal essential and Ham's F12 media supplemented with cholera toxin (CT, 100 ng/ml) and epidermal growth factor (EGF, 10 ng/ml) in addition to supplements used previously, thereby improving the yield of ducts by a factor of two compared with previous results. The ducts were harvested by digestion of the collagen matrix with collagenase and were then dissociated by treatment with EDTA in divalent cation-free salt suspended in collagen and cultured as were the ducts. Numerous cysts appeared as a function of time and some of these enlarged dramatically. Some of the larger cysts exhibited secondary tubular processes extending into the surrounding collagen. The addition of bovine pituitary extract (BPE, 50 micrograms/ml) doubled the number of cysts, whereas omission of serum or CT + EGF reduced the number. BPE or forskolin could substitute effectively for CT. Agents that stimulate (secretin) or inhibit (e.g., ouabain or acetazolamide) fluid-electrolyte secretion in vivo had no effect on the number or average diameter of the cysts. The cysts were 83 to 88% epithelial with the balance of the cells being fibroblastic in appearance. Some cysts consisted only of epithelium. The proliferative capacity of the cystic epithelium was shown by the presence of mitotic figures and by an autoradiographic labeling index of 22 to 30% after a 24-h exposure to [3H]thymidine. The labeling index was reduced by the omission of CT + EGF. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the cysts exhibited morphologic features of duct epithelium in vivo, including apical microvilli, lateral interdigitations of the plasma membrane, and typical cytoplasmic organelles.

Electrophysiological studies on the cultured cells obtained from transplantable pancreatic carcinoma in Syrian golden hamsters

A pancreatic ductal carcinoma was established as a transplantable tumor line in an inbred strain of Syrian golden hamsters. Intracellular recordings of membrane potentials and input resistance were made from cultured cells obtained from the transplanted tumors using indwelling glass microelectrode. The mean value of the resting membrane potential was -46.5 +/- 1.8 mV (S.E.) (n = 13), while the mean resting input resistance was 21.2 +/- 4.3 M omega (S.E.) (N = 13). Dibutyryl cyclic AMP (2 X 10(-3)M) caused a marked hyperpolarization of about 30 mV accompanied by a reduction of input resistance. The transplantable tumor and its cultured cell line developed in this study have demonstrated their effectiveness as a reliable experimental model for use in pancreatic cancer research.

Role of cyclic adenosine monophosphate in amylase release from dissociated rat pancreatic acini

1. The effect of octapeptide of cholecystokinin-pancreozymin (CCK(8)), bethanechol, cholera toxin, glucagon and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) on amylase secretion and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) release from isolated rat pancreatic acini was studied.2. In isolated rat pancreatic acini, in the absence of theophylline in the medium, amylase secretion was increased by 65-78% with 10(-7) and 10(-6) M-cholera toxin. In the presence of theophylline, amylase secretion was increased by 43-56% with 10(-7) and 10(-6) M-cholera toxin following a 90 min incubation. No effect was observed in the presence of theophylline at 30 and 60 min. The effect of cholera toxin was potentiated by CCK(8) at 60 and 90 min.3. In the absence of theophylline in the medium, amylase secretion was increased by 81-118% with 10(-5) and 10(-4) M-glucagon and 86% with 10(-6) M-VIP at 60 min. In the presence of theophylline in the medium, amylase secretion was increased by 53-246% with 10(-9) to 10(-6) M-glucagon and 111-158% with 10(-7) and 10(-6) M-VIP respectively. The effect of glucagon and VIP was potentiated by CCK(8).4. Potentiation of the rate of amylase release due to glucagon (10(-5) M) and VIP (10(-6) M) occurred during the first 15 min of incubation.5. Release of LDH was not increased by any of these agents.6. It is concluded that cyclic AMP rise (due to cholera toxin, glucagon and VIP effect) increased amylase secretion from rat pancreatic acinar cells. This effect is less marked than in the guinea-pig pancreas and is potentiated by agents mobilizing cellular Ca(2+) (CCK(8) and bethanechol).7. These data indicate species-specific variation in the action of cyclic AMP in the pancreas.

Action of cholera toxin on dispersed acini from rat pancreas. Post-receptor modulation involving cyclic AMP and calcium

In dispersed acini from rat pancreas, cholera toxin caused a significant increase in cellular cyclic AMP but little or no change in amylase secretion. The presence of a secretagogue that causes mobilization of cellular calcium (e.g., cholecystokinin, carbamylcholine, bombesin or ionophore A23187) caused a substantial increase in the effect of cholera toxin on enzyme secretion. Cholera toxin did not alter calcium transport or the changes in calcium transport caused by other secretagogues, and secretagogues that mobilize cellular calcium did not alter cellular cyclic AMP or the increase in cyclic AMP caused by cholera toxin. These results indicate that in dispersed acini from rat pancreas there is post-receptor modulation of the action of cholera toxin by secretagogues that mobilize cellular calcium and that this modulation is a major determinant of the effect of the toxin on enzyme secretion.

Distinct effects of the C-terminal octapeptide of cholecystokinin and of a cholera toxin pretreatment of the kinetics of rat pancreatic adenylate cyclase activity

(1) The kinetic parameters of rat pancreatic adenylate cyclase were evaluated, using GTP, p[NH]ppG or GTP gamma S as nucleotide activator, cholecystokinin as peptide hormone, and GDP beta S and dibutyryl cyclic GMP as inhibitors of guanosine triphosphate and CCK-8, respectively. The time courses of activation and the degree of activation at steady state (EA/ETOT) were compatible with a simple two-state model of activation-deactivation based on a pseudo-monomolecular activation process (rate constant kappa+1), and a deactivation process (rate constant kappa off) that included, depending on the activating nucleotide, the hydrolysis of GTP (rate constant kappa 2) and/or the dissociation of the intact nucleotide (rate constant kappa-1), so that EA/ETOT = kappa+1/(kappa+1 + kappa 2 + kappa-1). (2) The hormone CCK-8 increased the value of kappa+1 with GTP dose-dependently, from 0.2 to 10.9 min-1. The value of kappa-1 increased 0.01 to 0.3 min-1 but the value of kappa 2 was unaltered at 7 min-1, so that EA/ETOT increased 15-fold, from 4% to 61%. (3) A cholera toxin pretreatment at 30 micrograms/ml allowed also a large increase in EA/ETOT with GTP (up to 51%) but the underlying mechanism was different. It consisted of a 14-fold decrease in the kappa off value of the GTP-activated enzyme (from 7 min-1 to 0.5 min-1) that corresponded to a reduction in GTPase activity. When testing the system with p[NH]ppG, two added effects of the cholera toxin pretreatment were observed: a 4-fold increase in the value of kappa+1 (from 0.2 to 0.8 min-1) and the occurrence of a significant 0.3 min-1 value for kappa-1.

Effect of glucagon on digestive enzyme synthesis, transport and secretion in mouse pancreatic acinar cells

1. Effect of glucagon on amylase secretion and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) release from functionally intact dissociated pancreatic acinar cells and acini was studied. 2. In dissociated rat pancreatic acinar cells, the rate of amylase secretion was increased by 70% with bethanechol (maximally effective concentration, 10(-4) M) and 125% with A23187 (10(-5) M), but the response to cholecystokinin-pancreozymin (CCK-PZ) was inconsistent. In dissociated cells from mouse pancreas, the increases amounted to 78% with bethanechol (10(-4) M), 134% with A23187 (10(-5) M) and 82% with CCK-PZ (maximally effective concentration, 0 . 01 u. ml.-1). Glucagon in concentrations ranging from 10(-7) to 10(-4) M increased amylase secretion by 3, 26, 67 and 80%, whereas secretin (10(-8)--10(-5) M) increased amylase secretion by 8, 39, 88 and 138%. LDH release was increased with A23187 in concentrations greater than 10(-6) M. 3. CCK-PZ, bethanechol and A23187 used in maximal concentrations potentiated the effect of a submaximal dose of glucagon whereas secretin did not have an additive or a potentiating effect. 4. Pancreatic acini were approximately 3 times more responsive to secretagogues than cells. The dose--response curves to bethanechol, glucagon and CCK-PZ for increase in amylase secretion were similar. LDH release was not increased by these agents. Cytochalasin B (5 microgram ml.-1) which is known to disrupt the integrity of luminal membrane inhibited the amylase secretion stimulated by glucagon, bethanechol and CCK-PZ. 5. Glucagon inhibited incorporation of a mixture of fifteen 14C-labelled amino acids (algal profile, Schwarz Mann) into perchloric acid precipitable proteins in dissociated mouse pancreatic acini within 30 min. 6. In 'pulse-chase' experiments, glucagon decreased the specific activity of zymogen granules isolated by differential centrifugation, from pancreatic lobules (120 min) and increased the specific activity of radiolabelled proteins in the medium (60 and 120 min). 7. It is concluded that glucagon increased digestive enzyme secretion from pancreatic acinar cells by a direct action (in contrast to its reported indirect effect in vivo) and decreased digestive enzyme synthesis. The data on transport and secretion do not support the suggested role of glucagon as an inhibitor in the intact animal.

Action of cholera toxin on dispersed acini from guinea pig pancreas

In dispersed acini from guinea pig pancreas cholera toxin bound reversibly to specific membrane binding sites to increase cellular cyclic AMP and amylase secretion. Cholera toxin did not alter outflux of 45Ca or cellular cyclic AMP. Binding of 125I-labeled cholera toxin could be detected within 5 min; however, cholera toxin did not increase cyclic AMP or amylase release until after 40 min of incubation. There was a close correlation between the dose vs. response curve for inhibition of binding of 125I-labeled cholera toxin by native toxin and the action of native toxin on cellular cyclic AMP. With different concentrations of cholera toxin, maximal stimulation of amylase release occurred when the increase in cellular cyclic AMP was approximately 35% of maximal. Cholera toxin did not alter the increase in 45Ca outflux or cellular cyclic GMP caused by cholecystokinin or carbachol but significantly augmented the increase in cellular cyclic AMP caused by secretin or vasoactive intestinal peptide. The increase in amylase secretion caused by cholera toxin plus secretin or vasoactive intestinal peptide was the same as that with cholera toxin alone. On the other hand, the increase in amylase secretion caused by cholera toxin plus cholecystokinin or carbachol was significantly greater than the sum of the increases caused by each agent alone.

Rat pancreas adenylate cyclase. VI. Role of the enzyme in secretin stimulated enzyme secretion

1. The responsiveness of adenylate cyclase and enzyme secretin for secretin and the C-terminal octapeptide of pancreozymin has been investigated in particulate fractions of the pancreas of five different species. 2. The adenylate cyclase is sensitive to the C-terminal octapeptide of pancreozymin in all species investigated. 3. The enzyme is much more sensitive to secretin in rat and cat than in mouse and rabbit, whereas with guinea pig intermediate values are obtained. 4. The enzyme secretion is stimulated by secretin in pancreatic fragments of rat and cat, but not in those of mouse and rabbit. 5. These results suggest that in species where secretin stimulated enzyme secretion, it does so by stimulating the adenylate cyclase system.

Development of secretory mechanisms in rat pancreas

Mechanisms and development of secretory function were studied in rat pancreas in vitro. Amylase release from term fetal pancreas was refractory to stimulation by carbamylcholine chloride (carbachol) and cholecystokinin-octapeptide (CCK-OP), but was significantly augmented by calcium ionophore (A23187), DBcAMP, 8-Br-cGMP, and theophylline. The latter agent when combined with either cyclic nucleotide analogue further increased secretory responses. At 1 day and 8 days postnatally, responsiveness to carbachol and CCK-OP had been acquired because amylase secretion stimulated by these agents was brisk and at a level comparable to that found in mature tissue. Increasing extracellular calcium concentrations from 1.23 to 5.28 mM had no effect on basal amylase release in either the fetal or 8-day pancreas. No changes in intracellular cAMP concentrations were found at any age under experimental conditions used. Similarily, in fetal tissue, no changes in cGMP concentrations were found in response to carbachol or A23187. However, at 8 days of age, both agents produced two- to four-fold increases in tissue cGMP levels at 1, 2, and 5 min of incubation. These studies confirm that responsiveness to carbachol and CCK-OP is a maturational process in the pancreas that lags behind the development of intracellular processes involved in stimulus-secretion coupling.

The effects of alloxanate, nicotinic acid and imidazole on secretory processes and the activities of adenylate cyclase and 3',5'-AMP phosphodiesterase in cat pancreas

1 Nicotinic acid and alloxanate inhibited water and electrolyte secretion in a dose-dependent fashion when added to the perfusate of the isolated saline-perfused pancreas of the cat stimulated by a supramaximal dose of secretin.2 There were no changes in the concentration of sodium or potassium secreted into the juice, but the anions exhibited changes which were related to flow rate. As the flow rate declined the chloride concentration increased with a reciprocal decrease in bicarbonate concentration.3 Nicotinic acid and alloxanate inhibited enzyme secretion stimulated by carbachol.4 Imidazole inhibited pancreatic electrolyte secretion, but stimulated amylase secretion. Atropine (0.14 muM) reduced the secretion of amylase but did not abolish the effect.5 Adenylate cyclase prepared from cat pancreas, was stimulated by the octapeptide of cholecystokinin-pancreozymin, secretin and sodium fluoride.6 Alloxanate strongly inhibited both basal and hormone-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity. Nicotinic acid and imidazole stimulated basal adenylate cyclase activity but had little effect on secretin-stimulated activity.7 Alloxanate, nicotinic acid and imidazole were all without effect on phosphodiesterase when tested in the presence of micromolar concentrations of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP). At higher cyclic AMP concentrations (2 mM) alloxanate and nicotinic acid were without effect, whereas imidazole had a slight stimulatory effect at 10 mM which was more marked at 50 mM.8 Alloxanate (10 mM) strongly inhibited both basal and secretin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity.9 It is concluded that the effects of nicotinic acid, alloxanate and imidazole on pancreatic secretion are not mediated entirely through their effects on the adenylate cyclase or phosphodiesterase enzyme systems.

Rat pancreas adenylate cyclase V. Its presence in isolated rat pancreatic acinar cells

(1) In order to determine the cellular localization of the secretin- and pancreozymin-sensitive adenylate cyclase in rat pancreas, the occurence of this enzyme system has been investigated in isolated pancreatic cells. (2) Digestion of rat pancreatic lobules with collagenase yields a preparation of isolated cells which upon differential morphological analysis appears to consist for 97% of acinar cells and to contain for fewer centro-acinar and ductal cells than undissociated lobules. (3) Expressed per mg protein, the isolated cells contain the same amount of DNA, chymotrypsin and lactic dehydrogenase as the undissociated tissue. The stimulated adenylate cyclase activity is nearly entirely recovered in the isolated acinar cells, as is also the case for the low Km adenosine 3',5-cyclic monophosphate phosphodiesterase activity and the adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic AMP) content. Marked losses are noted for the basal adenylate cyclase and the high Km cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activities. (4) Washing the isolated acinar cells in Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate medium containing 10 mM 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine causes a cyclic AMP level 2.6 times that in cells washed in Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate alone. The cyclic AMP level is further increased by subsequently incubating the cells for 10 min in the presence of 3-10(-7) M pancreozymin-C-octapeptide or secretin to values 1.7 or 4.7 times the control level in cells incubated for 10 min with 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine alone. (5) It is suggested that the adenylate cyclase of the acinar cells may be involved, with another factor, in the stimulation of enzyme secretion, whereas a ductular cyclase would function in the regulation of the bicarbonate-dependent fluid secretion.