scholarly journals PROTEIN SYNTHESIS, STORAGE, AND DISCHARGE IN THE PANCREATIC EXOCRINE CELL

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.

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.


1968 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 589-603 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Jamieson ◽  
George E. Palade

Since in the pancreatic exocrine cell synthesis and intracellular transport of secretory proteins can be uncoupled (1), it is possible to examine separately the metabolic requirements of the latter process. 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 5 x 10-4 M cycloheximide and inhibitors of glycolysis, respiration, or oxidative phosphorylation. In each case, the effect on transport was assessed by measuring the amount of labeled secretory proteins found in zymogen granule fractions isolated from the corresponding slices. This assay is actually a measure of the efficiency of transport of secretory proteins from the cisternae of the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) to the condensing vacuoles of the Golgi complex which are recovered in the zymogen granule fraction (16). The results indicate that transport is insensitive to glycolytic inhibitors (fluoride, iodoacetate) but is blocked by respiratory inhibitors (N2, cyanide, Antimycin A) and by inhibitors of oxidative phosphorylation (dinitrophenol, oligomycin). Except for Antimycin A, the effect is reversible. Parallel radioautographic studies and cell fractionation procedures applied to microsomal subfractions have indicated that the energy-dependent step is located between the transitional elements of the RER and the small, smooth-surfaced vesicles at the periphery of the Golgi complex. Radiorespirometric data indicate that the substrates oxidized to support transport are endogenous long-chain fatty acids.


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.


1989 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-185
Author(s):  
J.D. Judah ◽  
K.E. Howell ◽  
J.A. Taylor ◽  
P.S. Quinn

In this paper we show that hepatocytes that have been depleted of K+ secrete albumin, alpha-1-anti-trypsin and transferrin at a slower rate than cells to which K+ has been returned. K+ depletion has no effect on the intracellular nucleotide pools, and we provide evidence that the inhibitions of secretion caused by depletion of K+ and depletion of ATP are independent. Studies of the processing of alpha-1-anti-trypsin show that K+ depletion inhibits the formation of the mature form of the protein, but that immature forms are never secreted. In cells to which K+ was returned, secretion of the mature form was restored. This implies that transport is blocked at a point before the proteins reach the processing enzymes. Proteins delayed by K+ depletion are not removed from the secretory pathway, but are free to mix with protein synthesized subsequently. These data are supported by subcellular fractionation experiments, which show that the secretory proteins are delayed before reaching the Golgi complex, and by immunoelectron microscopic studies. These show that in K+-deficient cells the morphology of both the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi complex is normal. The secretory proteins are trapped in smooth vesicles that contain reaction product when incubated for glucose-6-phosphatase, a marker for the endoplasmic reticulum.


1958 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Siekevitz ◽  
George E. Palade

Microsomes were isolated from the pancreas of starved and fed guinea pigs. In the first case, the gland was removed from animals starved for 48 hours; in the second, the pancreas was excised 1 hour after the beginning of a meal that ended a fast of 48 hours. These are referred to below as fed animals. In both cases the tissue was homogenized in 0.88 M sucrose and the microsomes obtained by centrifuging the mitochondrial supernatant at 105,000 g for 60 minutes. In starved animals the content of the endoplasmic reticulum of the exocrine cells and the content of the microsomes were found to be of low or moderate density. In fed guinea pigs the cavities of the reticulum frequently contained dense intracisternal granules and the microsomes were distinguished by a content of high density sometimes in the form of recognizable intracisternal granules. In starved animals, the microsomes were found to account for 5 to 20 per cent of the trypsin-activatable proteolytic activity and ribonuclease activity of the whole cell, whereas in fed animals they contained uniformly almost 30 per cent of these activities. In fed animals the dense, cohesive content of the microsomes (intracisternal granules) could be isolated by breaking up the microsomes with dilute (0.1 per cent) deoxycholate solutions and separating microsomal subfractions by differential centrifugation. The specific enzymatic activities of a heavy microsomal subfraction rich in intracisternal granules were almost equal to those of isolated purified zymogen granules. The ribonucleoprotein particles attached to the microsomal membranes could be isolated by the same technique and found also to exhibit some of the same enzymatic activities. Corresponding subfractions isolated from the microsomes of starved animals were considerably less active. The relevance of these findings for the synthesis and intracellular transport of protein in the exocrine cell of the pancreas is discussed.


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.


1967 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 577-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Jamieson ◽  
George E. Palade

It has been established by electron microscopic radioautography of guinea pig pancreatic exocrine cells (Caro and Palade, 1964) that secretory proteins are transported from the elements of the rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to condensing vacuoles of the Golgi complex possibly via small vesicles located in the periphery of the complex. To define more clearly the role of these vesicles in the intracellular transport of secretory proteins, we have investigated the secretory cycle of the guinea pig pancreas by cell fractionation procedures applied to pancreatic slices incubated in vitro. Such slices remain viable for 3 hr and incur minimal structural damage in this time. Their secretory proteins can be labeled with radioactive amino acids in short, well defined pulses which, followed by cell fractionation, makes possible a kinetic analysis of transport. To determine the kinetics of transport, we pulse-labeled sets of slices for 3 min with leucine-14C and incubated them for further +7, +17, and +57 min in chase medium. At each time, smooth microsomes ( = peripheral elements of the Golgi complex) and rough microsomes ( = elements of the rough ER) were isolated from the slices by density gradient centrifugation of the total microsomal fraction. Labeled proteins appeared initially (end of pulse) in the rough microsomes and were subsequently transferred during incubation in chase medium to the smooth microsomes, reaching a maximal concentration in this fraction after +7 min chase incubation. Later, labeled proteins left the smooth microsomes to appear in the zymogen granule fraction. These data provide direct evidence that secretory proteins are transported from the cisternae of the rough ER to condensing vacuoles via the small vesicles of the Golgi complex.


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.


1986 ◽  
Vol 237 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Fries ◽  
I Lindström

Isolated rat hepatocytes were pulse-labelled with [35S]methionine at 37 degrees C and subsequently incubated (chased) for different periods of time at different temperatures (37-16 degrees C). The time courses for the secretion of [35S]methionine-labelled albumin and haptoglobin were determined by quantitative immunoprecipitation of the detergent-solubilized cells and of the chase media. Both proteins appeared in the chase medium only after a lag period, the length of which increased markedly with decreasing chase temperature: from about 10 and 20 min at 37 degrees C to about 60 and 120 min at 20 degrees C for albumin and haptoglobin respectively. The rates at which the proteins were externalized after the lag period were also strongly affected by temperature, the half-time for secretion being 20 min at 37 degrees C and 200 min at 20 degrees C for albumin; at 16 degrees C no secretion could be detected after incubation for 270 min. Analysis by subcellular fractionation showed that part of the lag occurred in the endoplasmic reticulum and that the rate of transfer to the Golgi complex was very temperature-dependent. The maximum amount of the two pulse-labelled proteins in Golgi fractions prepared from cells after different times of chase decreased with decreasing incubation temperatures, indicating that the transport from the Golgi complex to the cell surface was less affected by low temperatures than was the transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex.


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