Early Changes of Gene Expression During Cerulein Supramaximal Stimulation

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Abstract
Administration of supramaximal doses of cerulein results in acute interstitial pancreatitis. To understand the pathogenesis of this disease, it would be of great importance to elucidate the changes during the early phase of the process. We report changes of gene expression in the pancreas during the first 6 h of cerulein supramaximal stimulation. The expression of genes, including the secretory enzyme amylase, the lysosomal enzyme cathepsin B, as well as the housekeeping genes p-actin and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPD), was investigated in this study. The most prominent alteration in gene expression is p-actin messenger RNA (mRNA), which increased continuously after cerulein infusion. Immunostaining for p-actin was observed along the membrane of large cytoplasmic vacuoles in pancreatic acinar cells. The level of amylase mRNA decreased during the first 30 min of cerulein infusion, recovered to the control level at 1 h and increased twofold at 2 h. An obvious increase in cathepsin B mRNA was observed after 3 h of cerulein infusion and reached sixfold of the control at 6 h. A significant increase of GAPD mRNA level was observed at 6 h of cerulein stimulation. In conclusion, this study provides direct evidence that the changes in gene expression, such as cathepsin B and amylase, after supramaximal cerulein stimulation, are regulated at the transcriptional level. It also suggests that β-actin is involved in the formation of cytoplasmic vacuoles during supramaximal cerulein administration. Finally, this study indicates that β-actin and GAPD may not be appropriate as RNA-loading controls for Northern blot analysis of pancreatic tissue.

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