Pancreatic tumoral cell line AR42J: an amphicrine model.

AR42J cells derive from azaserine-induced malignant nodules from the rat pancreas. They differ from normal acinar cells for at least three reasons: 1) they proliferate rapidly; 2) they synthesize, store, and secrete digestive enzymes but the regulation of their exocrine function is abnormal, from the emergence of atypical receptors (e.g., cholecystokinin octapeptide type B and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide type I receptors) to unusual inositol phosphate metabolism and cytoskeleton disorganization; and 3) they possess an added neuroendocrine-regulated pathway characterized by voltage-sensitive ionic currents, post-translational processing of peptidic prohormones (and possibly autocriny), and the release of small neurotransmitters (gamma-aminobutyric acid, glycine, and glutamic acid). These amphicrine cells represent, therefore, a cancerous version of the primordial pancreatic ductular epithelium. Dexamethasone favors their differentiation toward the exocrine phenotype. The mitogenic pathway is favored by the occupancy of receptor tyrosine kinases, adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate, ornithine decarboxylase expression, and Na(+)-H+ exchange. Somatostatin opposes proliferation through protein phosphatases.