Amylase

Calcium imaging in intact mouse acinar cells in acute pancreas tissue slices

“…TEM revealed (i) oval-shaped mitochondria in the perinuclear, perigranular and subplasmalemmal region; they were characterized by a double membrane, the inner mitochondrial layer formed typical cristae, (ii) rough endoplasmic reticulum that was visualized as electron-dense parallel lines within the cytoplasm, (iii) zymogene granules visualized as electron-dense round structures, and (iv) nuclei with double electron-dense membrane and a nucleolus, all consistent with the typical acinar cell ultrastructure ( Fig 2I–2K ) [ 84 – 87 ]. Next, immunohistochemical staining revealed that the acinar cells abundantly expressed the enzyme amylase, the acinar cell end-product ( Fig 2E, 2G and 2H ) and stimulation of slices by 0.1 nM cerulein resulted in a significant increase in amylase secretion ( Fig 2L ), further corroborating the functional viability of acinar cells in the tissue slice [ 88 , 89 ]. Finally, Fig 2F featuring immunofluorescence against the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor Mist-1 shows that the exocrine pancreas organization and acinar cell identity were maintained in the tissue slice in situ , at least over the time period during which our experiments were performed.…”

Regulation of pancreatic Exocrine Function by Islet Hormones

“…Insulin is known to regulate both the amount and activity of a number of anabolic processes and specific metabolic enzymes. In the exocrine pancreas the best studied tissue specific regulation is that of the digestive enzyme amylase which acts on dietary starch and glycogen (325). The pancreatic amylase content is known to decrease by over 90% in experimental diabetes in rats and the fall can be reversed by administration of insulin.…”