title: Pancreatic acinar cells submitted to stress activate TNF-alpha gene expression.
abstract: To elucidate whether pancreatic acinar cell submitted to stress is able to express TNF-alpha, we studied TNF-alpha mRNA expression by Northern blot and in situ hybridization in healthy pancreas, in tissue from caerulein-induced pancreatitis and after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment. In specimens from normal pancreas, TNF-alpha mRNA expression, as judged by both Northern blot and in situ hybridization, was negative, whereas a strong but transient expression was observed in acinar cells from caerulein pancreatitis and LPS treatment. TNF-alpha mRNA appeared as rapidly as 30 min after treatment, and was maximal 6 h after. At this time, there was mild infiltration consisting mostly of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) and no signal of TNF-alpha transcript was found in their cytoplasm. Our results strongly indicate that pancreatic acinar cell is the source of TNF-alpha early in the course of acute pancreatitis and LPS treatment, and suggest that the expression of this cytokine is a part of a general response of the acinar cell to aggression.
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. mvaccaro@mail.retina.ar
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Vaccaro
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ropolo
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grasso
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Calvo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferreria
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Iovanna
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lanosa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002108:Ceruletide; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010179:Pancreas / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D002108:Ceruletide