Survival of functional pancreatic acinar tissue in circumfusion organ culture enhanced by chemically defined medium with hydrocortisone.
Pancreatic explants from perinatal or 1-week-old rat circumfusion organ cultured with an insulin-free variant of Trowell's Medium T8 survive functionally, as judged from tissue amylase content, for about 3 days. When hydrocortisone 21-sodium succinate, 1.0 mg/liter, is added to the chemically defined medium, high levels of anylase persist for longer periods. Explants from 7-day-old animals, circumfusion cultured with hydrocortisone-supplemented medium, maintain tissue amylase levels equal to or greater than those of uncultured control pancreas for at least 5 days of culture, and over this period they release amylase into culture medium at a stable rate. Methods for maintaining functional pancreatic acinar tissue in culture provide a new biological model for in vitro analysis of the early defects of potential chemical carcinogens on this target organ.
D000681:Amylases / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D003470:Culture Media; D005260:Female; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D010179:Pancreas / Q000201:enzymology; D051381:Rats; D013268:Stimulation, Chemical; D013997:Time Factors; D014022:Tissue Survival
D003470:Culture Media; D000681:Amylases; D006854:Hydrocortisone