Intracellular calcium store and transport of elements in acinar cells of the salivary gland determined by electron probe X-ray microanalysis.

Electron probe X-ray microanalysis using freshly frozen hydrated and dried thin sections of dog submandibular gland was performed to determine the distribution of elements and water in the acinar cells of resting and stimulating states. The results obtained are as follows: (a) The secretory granules contained high concentrations of Ca and S while high concentrations of K and P were present in the cytoplasm and/or nucleus of acinar mucous cells of the gland in the resting state. (b) With pilocarpine stimulation, the concentration of Ca increased in the cytoplasm and decreased in the secretory granules, while there was an increase in the concentration of Na and Cl in both the cytoplasm and secretory granules of the cells. (c) The local dry-mass fractions of acinar cells, estimated by comparing the continuum radiation of X-ray spectrum from the frozen hydrated sections with that from the frozen dehydrated sections, were approximately 20 and 33% in the cytoplasm and secretory granules of resting acinar cells, respectively, and each value was not significantly altered under conditions of stimulation having a tendency to decrease slightly. Therefore, the passive Na and Cl influx and the cytoplasmic Ca flowed in from extracellular spaces and released from secretory granules, an intracellular calcium store, by secretory stimulation probably triggers the passive or active Na and Cl extrusion and consequently the osmotic water flux from the basal part of acinar cells to the secretory granules and the lumen, as well as the serial exocytosis of the granules in the luminal side of the acinar cells.