ISSN:
1432-0878
Keywords:
Insulin-like growth factor I
;
Somatomedin C
;
Hyperinsulinemia
;
Liver
;
Pancreas, endocrine
;
Endocrine cells
;
D cells
;
Mice, hyperinsulinemic: obese (ob/ob), lean (l/l)
;
Mouse l/l
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Summary Immunocytochemical, immunochemical and RNA-hybridization techniques were used to map the distribution of somatomedin C (Sm-C; insulin-like growth factor I; IGF-I) in the pancreas of young and adult lean and obese mice. The D cells in the islets of Langerhans showed intense cytoplasmic Sm-C immunoreactivity, extending into their processes. Only slight Sm-C immunoreactivity was seen in A and B cells, apparently confined to the plasma membranes. In the exocrine pancreas scattered duct cells were immunopositive. Starvation increased, while feeding decreased the Sm-C immunoreactivity in B cells. RNA-hybridization analyses revealed that roughly the same number of Sm-C mRNA molecules, as calculated per DNA amount in the pancreas, could be demonstrated in young and adult, lean and obese mice. Radioimmunoassay (RIA) determinations of total Sm-C showed that there were about equal concentrations in the pancreas of lean and obese mice. There were marked differences between the liver and the pancreas, in that the RIA Sm-C values for the former were twice those in the latter while, in contrast, the corresponding values for the Sm-C mRNA, i.e. the agent determining the synthesis of Sm-C, were about 100 times higher in the liver as compared to that in the pancreas. We interpret our results as follows: The D cells in the islets form and secrete Sm-C in both young and adult, lean and obese mice, while A and B cells bind, but do not necessarily synthesize this peptide. Our results obtained in vivo on mature pancreatic tissue are in contrast to those obtained in tissue-culture studies on fetal and neonatal islets, in which B cells synthesize Sm-C.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00224132
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