Role of vacuolation in the death of gastric epithelial cells.

The effect of vacuolation on survival of gastric epithelial cells was studied in rabbit gastric glands (RGG) incubated with ammonia and bafilomycin A1, a potent inhibitor of vacuolar ATPase activity. In ammonia, large vacuoles formed and cell survival was reduced to 47.2 +/- 3.4% at 6 h (59.5 +/- 3.8%, buffer). Bafilomycin A1 added at the start to RGG incubated with ammonia inhibited vacuole formation but did not improve cell survival (48.7 +/- 2.8% at 6 h). Bafilomycin A1 added 1-2 h after addition of ammonia reduced the size of vacuoles but did not alter cell survival. Cell survival was not affected by inhibiting protein synthesis. When incubated with ammonia, parietal cells dissociated from the gland and ruptured. After this, chief cells condensed and formed expensive blebs that contained fragmented nuclei. We conclude that 1)ammonia-induced vacuolation of gastric epithelial cells does not influence cell survival, 2) ammonia facilitates necrosis in parietal cells and apoptosis in chief cells, and 3) chief cell survival, in some manner, may be dependent on parietal cells.