Quantitative immunocytochemical localization of pancreatic secretory proteins in subcellular compartments of the rat acinar cell.

The recently developed protein A-gold technique for the detection of intracellular antigenic sites on thin sections was utilized to localize nine different secretory proteins in the rat exocrine pancreas. Amylase, chymotrypsinogen, trypsinogen, lipase, elastase, carboxypeptidases A and B, RNase and DNase, were detected at the level of the rough endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi area, and the zymogen granules of the acinar cells, as well as in the acinar lumen. A quantitative evaluation of the labeling showed that its intensity was not identical for all enzymes studied nor in all cellular compartments analyzed. An increasing gradient of the labeling from the rough endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi and to the zymogen granules was found for amylase, carboxypeptidases A and B, chymotrypsinogen, trypsinogen, and RNase, while a comparable low degree of labeling in the Golgi apparatus and in the zymogen granules was observed for DNase, lipase, and elastase. These results suggest that the nine enzymes are processed through the same intracellular compartments, but that they may be concentrated to different degrees in the zymogen granules before being released in the acinar lumen.