Rosewicz S, Vogt D, Harth N, Grund C, Franke W W, Ruppert S, Schweitzer E, Riecken E O, Wiedenmann B
Division of Gastroenterology, Free University of Berlin Medical School, Germany.
Eur J Cell Biol. 1992 Oct;59(1):80-91.
The permanent cell culture line AR42J, derived from a rat pancreatic acinar carcinoma, is widely used for functional studies of exocrine pancreatic acinar cells. We now present evidence that these cells are amphicrine in that they contain zymogen granules as well as small (40-80 nm) neuroendocrine (NE) vesicles and typical neurotransmitters. Using the small NE vesicle-specific markers synaptophysin and "protein S.V.2", including synaptophysin cDNA probes, we have found that AR42J cells synthesize these proteins and contain vesicles harboring these proteins with biophysical properties similar to those of small NE vesicles. NE properties of these cells are further indicated by the presence of considerable amounts of stored amino acids (gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glycine, glutamate) and by the presence of the GABA-synthesizing enzyme, glutamic acid decarboxylase. Finally, intermediate filament (IF) protein typing showed only cytokeratins 8 and 18, indicating that AR42J cells possess an IF protein complement indistinguishable from that of acinar and islet cells. Our results document the unusual case of a permanent cell line with combined exocrine and neuroendocrine properties that may be indicative of a derivation from a cell with multipotential character.
源自大鼠胰腺腺泡癌的永久性细胞系AR42J被广泛用于胰腺外分泌腺泡细胞的功能研究。我们现在提供证据表明这些细胞是双分泌的，因为它们含有酶原颗粒以及小的（40 - 80纳米）神经内分泌（NE）囊泡和典型的神经递质。使用小NE囊泡特异性标志物突触素和“蛋白S.V.2”，包括突触素cDNA探针，我们发现AR42J细胞合成这些蛋白质，并含有携带这些蛋白质的囊泡，其生物物理特性与小NE囊泡相似。这些细胞的NE特性还通过存在大量储存的氨基酸（γ-氨基丁酸（GABA）、甘氨酸、谷氨酸）以及GABA合成酶谷氨酸脱羧酶的存在来进一步表明。最后，中间丝（IF）蛋白分型仅显示细胞角蛋白8和18，表明AR42J细胞具有与腺泡细胞和胰岛细胞无法区分的IF蛋白组成。我们的结果记录了一个具有外分泌和神经内分泌联合特性的永久性细胞系的特殊情况，这可能表明它源自具有多能特性的细胞。
