Biochemical and histochemical characterization of cultured rat and hamster pancreatic ducts

Pancreatic duct fragments were isolated from rat and hamster pancreas and were cultured in an agarose matrix for up to 8 weeks (rat) or 20 weeks (hamster). The fragments consisted predominantly of duct epithelium, lesser numbers of stromal and atrophied acinar cells, and small numbers of islet cells. Hamster ducts averaged 3 micrograms protein per duct while rat ducts averaged 1 microgram, and the protein:DNA ratio of both types of ducts was less than that of whole pancreas. Estimated average duct yields of 6% (hamster) and 1% (rat) were based on the protein content of the ducts. Duct viability was shown by the incorporation of 3H-thymidine and 3H-leucine into bulk DNA and protein and by autoradiography. gamma-Glutamyl transferase and (Na + K)-ATPase specific activities were slightly elevated while amylase was depressed in the ducts when compared with whole pancreas in both species. gamma-Glutamyl transferase was localized histochemically in both duct epithelium and in surviving acinar tissue, as seen in vivo. Amylase was shown by immunohistochemistry to be present within duct lumina and in atrophied acini and their lumina. Alkaline phosphatase and Mg-ATPase specific activities were elevated in the hamster, but reduced in the rat, when compared with whole pancreas. Hamster alkaline phosphatase and Mg-ATPase were localized by histochemistry to the duct stroma, where these enzymes are not detected in vivo. Carbonic anhydrase was found in the duct epithelium of both species, as in vivo, as well as in the duct stroma, unlike in vivo. Acid glycosaminoglycans, as revealed by alcian blue staining, were found at the apical surfaces and in the lumina of both kinds of ducts. Glutathione-S-transferase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase were elevated in rat ducts, but not in hamster ducts. The polypeptide compositions of cultured ducts, freshly isolated pancreatic islets, and whole pancreas were compared by one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis. No duct-specific polypeptides were observed; the ducts were characterized mainly by the reduction or absence of polypeptides, including some zymogens, seen in whole pancreas.