Immunocytochemical finding of the amidating enzymes in mouse pancreatic A-, B-, and D-cells: a comparison with human and rat.

alpha-Amidation is catalyzed by two enzymatic activities, peptidyl-glycine alpha-hydroxylating mono-oxygenase (PHM) and peptidyl-alpha-hydroxyglycine alpha-amidating lyase (PAL), denoted collectively as peptidyl-glycine alpha-amidating mono-oxygenase (PAM), which also may include transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains. PAM is present in mammalian pancreas, where it appears to be abundant in the perinatal period. Nevertheless, there is no agreement on the cell type(s) that produces PAM or even on its presence in adults. In the present study we found PAM (PHM and cytoplasmic domain) immunoreactivity (IR) in A-, B-, and D-cells of adult mouse pancreas. In contrast to previous reports, PAM IR was found in B-cells of human and rat. Most of the B/D-cells were PAM immunoreactive, although with variable intensity, whereas less than half of A-cells displayed IR. Immunocytochemistry and Western blotting suggested the existence of different PAM molecules. Differences in the cellular distribution of IR for PAM domains were also observed. Whereas PHM-IR was extended throughout the cytoplasm in the three cell types, presumably in the secretory granules, IR for the cytoplasmic domain in A/D-cells was restricted to a juxtanuclear region, perhaps indicating its cleavage in Golgi areas. Although glucagon, insulin, and somatostatin are non-amidated, amidated peptides (glucagon-like peptide 1, adrenomedullin, proadrenomedullin N-terminal 20 peptide) were found in the three cell types.