Pancreatic Digestive Enzyme Dispersion into Human Organs Outside the Gastrointestinal Tract

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Human Physiology
• Proteomics

Background:

• Pancreatic digestive enzymes are crucial for food breakdown.
• Emerging evidence suggests these enzymes have roles beyond digestion, including in degenerative conditions.
• Their distribution and concentration in healthy human organs are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically investigate the presence and distribution of pancreatic digestive enzymes in healthy human organs.
• To analyze protein and RNA expression levels of these enzymes across various tissues.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Human Protein Atlas.
• Analyzed protein levels via immunohistochemically labeled tissue sections.
• Examined RNA expression in organs throughout the body.

Main Results:

• Pancreatic digestive enzymes (trypsin, chymotrypsin, elastase, amylase) are present in organs like the lung, heart, kidney, and brain at ~1% of pancreatic levels.
• Serine protease inhibitors are primarily in the liver but also found in other organs.
• These enzymes, synthesized in the pancreas, are dispersed throughout healthy tissues.

Conclusions:

• Pancreatic digestive enzymes are distributed in healthy human organs at low levels.
• The function and enzymatic activity of these dispersed enzymes in human tissues remain largely unexplored.
• Further investigation is warranted to understand their potential roles in health and disease.