scholarly journals CONDENSING VACUOLE CONVERSION AND ZYMOGEN GRANULE DISCHARGE IN PANCREATIC EXOCRINE CELLS: METABOLIC STUDIES

1971 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 503-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Jamieson ◽  
George E. Palade

We have examined, in the pancreatic exocrine cell, the metabolic requirements for the conversion of condensing vacuoles into zymogen granules and for the discharge of the contents of zymogen granules. To study condensing vacuole conversion, we pulse labeled guinea pig pancreatic slices for 4 min with leucine-3H and incubated them in chase medium for 20 min to allow labeled proteins to reach condensing vacuoles. Glycolytic and respiratory inhibitors were then added and incubation continued for 60 min to enable labeled proteins to reach granules in control slices. Electron microscope radioautography of cells or of zymogen granule pellets from treated slices showed that a large proportion of prelabeled condensing vacuoles underwent conversion in the presence of the combined inhibitors. Osmotic fragility studies on zymogen granule suspensions suggest that condensation may result from the aggregation of secretory proteins in an osmotically inactive form. Discharge was studied using an in vitro radioassay based on the finding that prelabeled zymogen granules can be induced to release their labeled contents to the incubation medium by carbamylcholine or pancreozymin. Induced discharge is not affected if protein synthesis is blocked by cycloheximide for up to 2 hr, but is strictly dependent on respiration. The data indicate that transport and discharge do not require the pari passu synthesis of secretory or nonsecretory proteins (e.g. membrane proteins), suggesting that the cell may reutilize its membranes during the secretory process. The energy requirements for zymogen discharge may be related to the fusion-fission of the granule membrane with the apical plasmalemma.

1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Meldolesi ◽  
J. D. Jamieson ◽  
G. E. Palade

The subcellular components involved in the synthesis, transport, and discharge of secretory proteins in the guinea pig pancreatic exocrine cell have been isolated from gland homogenates by differential and gradient centrifugation. They include rough and smooth microsomes derived respectively from the rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi periphery, a zymogen granule fraction consisting mainly of mature zymogen granules and a smaller population of condensing vacuoles, and a plasmalemmal fraction. Membrane subfractions were obtained from the particulate components by treatment with mild (pH 7.8) alkaline buffers which extract the majority (>95%) of the content of secretory proteins, allowing the membranes to be recovered from the extracting fluid by centrifugation. The purity of the fractions was assessed by electron microscopy and by assaying marker enzymes for cross-contaminants. The rough and smooth microsomes were essentially free of mitochondrial contamination; the smooth microsomes contained <15% rough contaminants. The zymogen granule fraction and its derived membranes were free of rough microsomes and contained <3% contaminant mitochondria. The plasmalemmal fraction was heterogeneous as to origin (deriving from basal, lateral, and apical poles of the cell) and contained varying amounts of adherent fibrillar material arising from the basement membrane and terminal web. The lipid and enzymatic composition of the membrane fractions are described in the following reports.


1971 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Jamieson ◽  
George E. Palade

Our previous observations on the synthesis and transport of secretory proteins in the pancreatic exocrine cell were made on pancreatic slices from starved guinea pigs and accordingly apply to the resting, unstimulated cell. Normally, however, the gland functions in cycles during which zymogen granules accumulate in the cell and are subsequently discharged from it in response to secretogogues. The present experiments were undertaken to determine if secretory stimuli applied in vitro result in adjustments in the rates of protein synthesis and/or of intracellular transport. To this intent pancreatic slices from starved animals were stimulated in vitro for 3 hr with 0.01 mM carbamylcholine. During the first hour of treatment the acinar lumen profile is markedly enlarged due to insertion of zymogen granule membranes into the apical plasmalemma accompanying exocytosis of the granule content. Between 2 and 3 hr of stimulation the luminal profile reverts to unstimulated dimensions while depletion of the granule population nears completion. The acinar cells in 3-hr stimulated slices are characterized by the virtual complete absence of typical condensing vacuoles and zymogen granules, contain a markedly enlarged Golgi complex consisting of numerous stacked cisternae and electron-opaque vesicles, and possess many small pleomorphic storage granules. Slices in this condition were pulse labeled with leucine-3H and the route and timetable of intracellular transport assessed during chase incubation by cell fractionation, electron microscope radioautography, and a discharge assay covering the entire secretory pathway. The results showed that the rate of protein synthesis, the rate of drainage of the rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum (RER) compartment, and the over-all transit time of secretory proteins through the cells was not accelerated by the secretogogue. Secretory stimulation did not lead to a rerouting of secretory proteins through the cell sap. In the resting cell, the secretory product is concentrated in condensing vacuoles and stored as a relatively homogeneous population of spherical zymogen granules. By contrast, in the stimulated cell, secretory proteins are initially concentrated in the flattened saccules of the enlarged Golgi complex and subsequently stored in numerous small storage granules before release. The results suggest that secretory stimuli applied in vitro primarily affect the discharge of secretory proteins and do not, directly or indirectly, influence their rates of synthesis and intracellular transport.


1964 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucien G. Caro ◽  
George E. Palade

The synthesis, intracellular transport, storage, and discharge of secretory proteins in and from the pancreatic exocrine cell of the guinea pig were studied by light- and electron microscopical autoradiography using DL-leucine-4,5-H3 as label. Control experiments were carried out to determine: (a) the length of the label pulse in the blood and tissue after intravenous injections of leucine-H3; (b) the amount and nature of label lost during tissue fixation, dehydration, and embedding. The results indicate that leucine-H3 can be used as a label for newly synthesized secretory proteins and as a tracer for their intracellular movements. The autoradiographic observations show that, at ∼5 minutes after injection, the label is localized mostly in cell regions occupied by rough surfaced elements of the endoplasmic reticulum; at ∼20 minutes, it appears in elements of the Golgi complex; and after 1 hour, in zymogen granules. The evidence conclusively shows that the zymogen granules are formed in the Golgi region by a progressive concentration of secretory products within large condensing vacuoles. The findings are compatible with an early transfer of label from the rough surfaced endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex, and suggest the existence of two distinct steps in the transit of secretory proteins through the latter. The first is connected with small, smooth surfaced vesicles situated at the periphery of the complex, and the second with centrally located condensing vacuoles.


1996 ◽  
Vol 316 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan J. MARCINIAK ◽  
J. Michael EDWARDSON

It is well established that both GTP-binding proteins and phosphoproteins are involved in the control of exocytosis in the exocrine pancreas. Exocytotic membrane fusion is stimulated by guanosine 5′-[γ-thio]triphosphate, and the phosphorylation states of several proteins, including at least one on the zymogen granule membrane, are known to change during exocytosis. We show here that a nucleoside diphosphate kinase is associated with the cytoplasmic face of pancreatic zymogen granules. This enzyme behaves as a phosphoprotein of apparent molecular mass 21 kDa on SDS/polyacrylamide gels, and is able to produce GTP by using ATP to phosphorylate endogenous GDP. GTP production by nucleoside diphosphate kinase is stimulated by the wasp venom peptide mastoparan, both through a direct action on the enzyme and through its ability to increase the availability of endogenous GDP. Two effects of the GTP produced by nucleoside diphosphate kinase are demonstrated: phosphorylation of a 37 kDa zymogen granule protein on histidine residues, and stimulation of the fusion of zymogen granules with pancreatic plasma membranes in vitro. These results suggest that granule-associated nucleoside diphosphate kinase is able to maintain local GTP concentrations, and raise the possibility that it might be involved in the control of exocytosis in the pancreatic acinar cell.


1988 ◽  
Vol 254 (1) ◽  
pp. G93-G99 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. W. Gasser ◽  
J. DiDomenico ◽  
U. Hopfer

The membrane permeability of pancreatic zymogen granules was evaluated in vitro with granules isolated from rats in different secretory states: 1) untreated, 2) pretreated with a muscarinic antagonist, 3) pretreated with a muscarinic and an adrenergic antagonist, 4) pretreated as in 3 and then stimulated with the secretagogue cholecystokinin 4 min before death, and 5) pretreated as in 3 and then stimulated with the secretagogue secretin 4 min before death. Granules isolated from untreated rats had variable ionic permeabilities but in general possessed both chloride conductance and electroneutral exchange pathways with low permeabilities to alkali metal ions. In contrast, granules from animals pretreated with secretory antagonists had very low ion permeabilities to both inorganic anions, such as chloride, and alkali metal ions. Injection of the peptide secretagogues cholecystokinin or secretin resulted in a relatively fast (within 4 min) activation or induction of high chloride permeabilities through both chloride conductance and chloride/hydroxide (or chloride/bicarbonate) exchange pathways. In addition, the secretagogues increased the cation permeability of the granule membrane, which exhibited a distinct potassium selectivity. Chloride conductance has been postulated to play a major role in fluid secretion coupled to exocytosis of macromolecules [R. C. DeLisle and U. Hopfer, Am. J. Physiol. 250 (Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 13): G489-G496, 1986]. These results demonstrate that granules may actively participate in the secretory process and suggest that some of the physiological targets in the cascade of events leading to secretion are anion and cation transporters in the zymogen granule membrane.


2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 1545-1554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfram Antonin ◽  
Martin Wagner ◽  
Dietmar Riedel ◽  
Nils Brose ◽  
Reinhard Jahn

ABSTRACT Syncollin is a small protein that is abundantly expressed in pancreatic acinar cells and that is tightly associated with the lumenal side of the zymogen granule membrane. To shed light on the hitherto unknown function of syncollin, we have generated syncollin-deficient mice. The mice are viable and show a normal pancreatic morphology as well as normal release kinetics in response to secretagogue stimulation. Although syncollin is highly enriched in zymogen granules, no change was found in the overall protein content and in the levels of chymotrypsin, trypsin, and amylase. However, syncollin-deficient mice reacted to caerulein hyperstimulation with a more severe pancreatitis. Furthermore, the rates of both protein synthesis and intracellular transport of secretory proteins were reduced. We conclude that syncollin plays a role in maturation and/or concentration of zymogens in zymogen granules.


1978 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
HA Reggio ◽  
GE Palade

Sulfate incorporation into the guinea pig pancreas was investigated by light (LM) and electron microscope (EM) autoradiography using a system of minilobules incubated in vitro for 60 min in Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate medium (KRB) containing 35SO4(-2). In acinar cells, examined by EM autoradiography, the label was found concentrated over Golgi elements (including condensing vacuoles) and zymogen granules. 35SO4(-2) was also incorporated by the epithelial cells of the entire pancreatic duct system, the incorporation being surprisingly high in the epithelium of the major ducts. In all ductal epithelia, autoradiographic grains appeared over the Golgi complex and the plasmalemma. Since a contribution of duct epithelium to the sulfated compounds found in the discharged secretion could not be ruled out, a purified zymogen granule fraction was used as a source material for the isolation of sulfated compounds of acinar origin. The presence of 35S-radioactivity in the zymogen granules and condensing vacuoles of this fraction was ascertained by autoradiography (of sectioned pellets). From a lysate of this zymogen granule fraction, a soluble sulfated compound of low isoelectric point and high molecular weight was isolated by gel filtration under conditions that allowed its satisfactory separation from the bulk of the secretory proteins.


1968 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 580-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Jamieson ◽  
George E. Palade

Experiments have been carried out to determine whether intracellular transport of pancreatic secretory proteins is obligatorily coupled to protein synthesis or whether it is a separable process which can be independently regulated. To this intent, guinea pig pancreatic slices were pulse labeled with leucine-3H for 3 min and incubated post-pulse for 37 min in chase medium containing cycloheximide up to concentrations sufficient to inhibit protein synthesis by 98%. In controls, newly synthesized secretory proteins are transported over this interval to condensing vacuoles of the Golgi complex. Since the latter are recovered in the zymogen granule fraction upon cell fractionation, intracellular transport was assayed by measuring the amount of protein radioactivity found in the zymogen granule fraction after a (3 + 37) min incubation. The results indicated that at maximum inhibition of protein synthesis (5 x 10-4 M cycloheximide), transport proceeded with an efficiency ∼80% of control. Parallel radioautographic studies on intact slices confirmed these data and further indicated that all the steps of intracellular transport, including discharge to the acinar lumen, were independent of protein synthesis. We conclude that: (1) transport and protein synthesis are separable processes; (2) intracellular transport is not the result of a continuous delivery of secretory proteins from attached polysomes to the cisternae of the rough endoplasmic reticulum; and (3) transport is not dependent on the synthesis of "specific" nonsecretory proteins within the time limits tested.


1986 ◽  
Vol 250 (4) ◽  
pp. G489-G496 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. De Lisle ◽  
U. Hopfer

Zymogen granules from rat pancreas were prepared on a 40% Percoll gradient at free calcium levels less than 0.2 microM. We have previously shown [Am. J. Physiol. 246 (Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 9)] that zymogen granules prepared by this method are stable in vitro for more than 1 h in "physiological buffers." The electrolyte permeabilities of the zymogen granule membrane were investigated to determine the basis for this stability. Ionic permeabilities were estimated from rates of osmotic lysis and measured as decrease in optical density (OD) of granule suspensions. OD correlated linearly with lysis, as indicated by release of amylase, except for the highest and lowest 10% of the OD of intact granules. Lysis of freshly isolated granules was slow in Na+ or K+ salt solutions (e.g., t1/2 approximately 3 h for Cl-) but was accelerated 5- to 50-fold when cation ionophores were present simultaneously. This behavior indicates that zymogen granules have low endogenous permeabilities to the cations Na+ and K+, but are highly permeable to a variety of anions. Both anion conductance and anion-exchange pathways were found. The relative selectivity of the anion conductance pathway was SCN- greater than Br- approximately NO-3 greater than SO2-(4) greater than acetate- approximately Cl- greater than isethionate-. The relative selectivity sequence for anion/-OH- exchange was acetate- greater than SCN- greater than Br- approximately NO-3 approximately Cl- much greater than isethionate- greater than SO2-(4). The anion transport blocker DIDS blocked the electrogenic pathway with a half-maximal effectiveness at approximately 2 microM. DIDS had little effect on the anion-exchange pathway.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1993 ◽  
Vol 291 (1) ◽  
pp. 289-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
F A Leblond ◽  
G Viau ◽  
J Lainé ◽  
D Lebel

Regulated secretory proteins are thought to be sorted in the trans-Golgi network (TGN) via selective aggregation. To elucidate the biogenesis of the secretory granule in the exocrine pancreas, we reconstituted in vitro the conditions of pH and ions believed to exist in the TGN using the end product of this sorting process, the zymogen granule contents. Protein aggregation was dependent on pH (acidic) and on the presence of cations (10 mM Ca2+, 150 mM K+) to reproduce the pattern of proteins found in the granule. The constitutive secretory protein IgG was excluded from these aggregates. Zymogen aggregation correlated with the relative proportion of the major granule membrane protein GP-2 in the assay. These results show that the glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein GP-2 co-aggregates with zymogens in the acidic environment believed to exist in the pancreatic TGN, and thus suggest that GP-2 would function as a membrane anchor for zymogen aggregates, facilitating their entrapment in budding vesicles directed towards the regulated secretory pathway.


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