Pancreatic Acinar Carcinoma Research Articles

Distribution and Movement of Anionic Cell Surface Sites in Dissociated Neoplastic Pancreatic Acinar Cells

The establishment recently of a transplantable pancreatic acinar carcinoma of rat in our laboratory1, provides a suitable model system to analyze morphogenetic, enzymic and functional differentiation in transformed secretory epithelial cells. Morphologic analysis of this tumor has revealed a continuum of neoplastic cells from those which totally lack mature secretory granules to cells with abundant, well-formed secretory granules. This tumor is easily dissociable into single cells and these cells are found to be more susceptible to agglutination by concanavalin A than the normal pancreatic acinar cells2.

Secretion granules of transplantable pancreatic acinar carcinoma of rat.

Secretion granules of the rat transplantable pancreatic acinar carcinoma and of normal rat pancreas were isolated by differential centrifugation. Analysis of the granule content by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing procedures combined with specific enzyme assays indicated essential qualitative similarities between normal and neoplastic secretory proteins, suggesting retention of enzymic differentiation in this pancreatic acinar carcinoma. Accordingly, this epithelial tumor should serve as an important model for examination of regulatory mechanisms in cell differentiation and neoplasia.

Concanavalin A agglutinability and surface microvilli of dissociated normal and neoplastic pancreatic acinar cells of the rat

Isolated tumor cells of the transplantable pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma of the rat [8] were found to have numerous microvilli by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) when compared to normal acinar cells of the rat pancreas, and were more susceptible to agglutination by concanavalin A (ConA) than the normal acinar cells. However, isolated normal pancreatic acinar cells developed increased numbers of microvilli and microplicae upon 10 min in vitro stimulation with secretin, but this was not associated with an enhancement of concanavalin A-mediated agglutinability. It appears, therefore, that there is a lack of correlation between surface microvilli and lectin agglutinability for acinar cells of the rat pancreas. The neoplastic acinar cells isolated from the transplantable pancreatic acinar carcinoma of the rat should prove to be of value in delinearing differences in cell surface biology of normal and neoplastic epithelial cells.

Plasma growth hormone levels in spontaneous hypoglycemia.

ABSTRACT Plasma growth hormone (HGH) and insulin levels were measured by immunoassay, and cortisol by fluorometry, on one or more occasions during fasting hypoglycemia in 12 patients with spontaneous hypoglycemia from diverse causes. Fasting plasma insulin levels were elevated during hypoglycemia in 5 patients with insulinomas and one with pancreatic acinar carcinoma, but in none of the others. Correlation between blood glucose and HGH concentrations was poor. In 10 of the patients, HGH levels were usually normal, i.e., less than 5 mμg/ml, during fasting hypoglycemia, i.e., blood glucose below 40 mg/100 ml. High plasma growth hormone levels were commoner when symptoms attributable to hypoglycemia were present than when absent, regardless of the absolute blood glucose concentration. The plasma HGH response to other provocative stimuli, e.g., insulin, tolbutamide and glucose, was normal in all cases except one. It is concluded that hypoglycemia is not per se a physiological stimulus to HGH (and cortisol) se...