The Golgi apparatus and GERL during postnatal differentiation of rat parotid acinar cells: an electron microscopic cytochemical study.

Morphological and cytochemical changes in the Golgi apparatus and GERL of differentiating parotid acinar cells were examined in Sprague-Dawley rats from 5 days to young adult. At day 5, the Golgi apparatus consisted of 3-6 narrow saccules, with short segments of GERL lying adjacent to the trans Golgi saccule. As the glands matured, the Golgi apparatus increased in size and the saccules became broadened and fenestrated reaching a maximum from days 15-20. The saccules subsequently narrowed slightly and by day 25 resembled those seen in young adults. Numerous cisternae of GERL could be seen at the trans face during this period. While the glands were maturing, marked changes occurred in the distribution of thiamine pyrophosphatase (TPPase) activity in the Golgi saccules. In the immature cells, TPPase activity was restricted to 1 or 2 trans Golgi saccules. However, by day 10 TPPase could also be localized in immature secretory granules and in GERL-like cisternae. Unreactive segments of GERL were also present. This pattern of localization persisted until day 20, after which the TPPase activity in the GERL-like cisternae diminished gradually until by day 40 TPPase again was localized in 1-2 trans Golgi saccules and an occasional immature secretory granule. Acid phosphatase (AcPase) activity was localized primarily in lysosomes in the very young animals and increased in GERL with age up to day 15. From days 15 to 20 there was a decrease in the amount of activity seen in GERL, but from day 20 on, the AcPase activity increased until it reached that seen in young adult animals. These results indicate that the presence of TPPase activity in GERL-like cisternae and immature secretory granules may be dependent upon the developmental as well as the physiologic state of the acinar cells and lend further support to the suggestion that GERL is derived from the trans Golgi saccules.