FURTHER CHARACTERIZATION OF CARCINOGEN-INDUCED HEPATOCYTELIKE CELLS IN HAMSTER PANCREAS

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 110  (1) , 89-94
Abstract
Regenerating pancreatic cells of the Syrian hamster treated at the peak of S phase with the pancreatic carcinogen N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine (BOP) are converted into stable cells with morphologic and functional characteristics that are strikingly similar to those of differentiated hepatocytes. Their hepatocyte-like nature are further documented. Seventy-two h after subtotal hepatectomy, pancreatic hepatocyte-like cells responded with an 8-fold increase in labeled nuclei (105.8 .+-. 4.04/1000 cells) which had incorporated 3H-thymidine and a 5-fold increased mitotic index (3.8 .+-. 1.5 mitoses/1000 cells), as compared with similar cells in the pancreas of control animals that had undergone sham operations. Chronic administration of phenobarbital induced a 31-fold increase in the level of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) in pancreas containing such cells, as compared with normal control pancreas and caused marked proliferation of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER). These cells also showed an enhanced capacity for the accumulation of Fe during acute Fe excess, as compared with adjacent acinar cells. Carcinogen-induced cells in pancreas apparently bear a close functional resemblance to hepatocytes.