Translational control of protein synthesis in isolated pancreatic acini: role of CCK8, carbachol, and insulin.

We wished to determine whether the stimulation of protein synthesis by CCK8, carbachol, and insulin in isolated rat pancreatic acini resulted from translational or transcriptional induction of protein synthesis, and whether these hormones had similar or different effects on the rates of synthesis of individual enzymes. Isolated pancreatic acini were prepared from streptozocin-treated rats by collagenase digestion, mechanical dissociation, and centrifugation through a bovine serum albumin (BSA) cushion. Sixty-minute incubations, with maximally effective doses of CCK8, carbachol, and insulin, produced a 50, 90, and 100% increase, respectively, in the rate of protein synthesis. After inhibition of transcription with actinomycin D, the hormones still produced a 23, 50, and 61% increase, respectively, in the rate of protein synthesis. The study of the effect of the three hormones and the combination of CCK8 and insulin on the rate of synthesis of trypsinogen, chymotrypsinogen, lipase, and amylase, purified by isoelectric focusing, demonstrated that the hormones induced similar effects on the pattern of enzyme synthesis, and that they all induced the rate of synthesis of chymotrypsinogen slightly more than that of the other enzymes studied. We conclude that the hormones studied exert similar posttranscriptional influences in the regulation of protein synthesis in the pancreatic acinar cell.