INADEQUACY OF APUD CONCEPT IN EXPLAINING PRODUCTION OF PEPTIDE HORMONES BY TUMOURS

Abstract

The amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation (APUD) system of cells has been claimed to derive from the embryological neural crest. This assertion has been uncritically accepted. There is much contradictory evidence, especially about the origin of the gastrointestinal and respiratory APUD cells. There is further evidence that the embryological derivation of a particular cell does not relate to the possibility of ectopic peptide hormone synthesis by malignant tumours arising from that cell type. There are many reports of APUD activity by endodermally and mesodermally derived tumours, and of "APUDomas" with endodermal microscopic features. It seems that the concept of dedifferentiation explains the observed data much more satisfactorily and that the presence of double minute chromosomes may denote gene amplification and cellular production of peptides.