Selective localization of the parathyroid secretory protein-I/adrenal medulla chromogranin A protein family in a wide variety of endocrine cells of the rat.

Secretory protein-I (SP-I) of parathyroid glands and chromogranin A ( CGA ) of adrenal medullary chromaffin cells are chemically similar if not identical proteins. Both proteins are contained within secretory granules and appear to be cosecreted with granule contents, for example, in the parathyroid with PTH and in the adrenal with epinephrine and dopamine beta-hydroxylase. Antisera to bovine SP-I and porcine CGA , together with antisera to a variety of peptide hormones, were used in an immunofluorescence study of rat tissues in order to determine the probable distribution and cellular localization of these proteins. In addition to their previously demonstrated presence in parathyroid and adrenal cells, the SP-I/ CGA protein family was detected in cells of the thyroid that contained calcitonin and often SRIF but not thyroglobulin; in cells of the anterior pituitary staining for the alpha-subunit of TSH/FSH/LH but not in cells staining for GH, PRL, ACTH, or beta-endorphin; in pancreatic islet cells staining for SRIF and pancreatic polypeptide-related peptides, but not for insulin or glucagon; in the celiac and mesenteric ganglia in cells some of which contained SRIF; and in the gastric antrum in cells containing SRIF, but not gastrin. SP-I/ CGA was not detected in cells of the liver, kidney, parotid gland, or acinar pancreas or in the intermediate or posterior lobes of the pituitary. These results suggest that this protein family enjoys a widespread but highly restricted distribution in many different endocrine-peptide cells of the rat, many that are believed to be of the APUD cell series. The possibility is raised that SP-I/ CGA plays some physiological role in the secretory process or exerts an effect of its own in the periphery after secretion.