Cytoplasmic granule formation in mouse pancreatic acinar cells. Evidence for formation of immature granules (condensing vacuoles) by aggregation and fusion of progranules of unit size, and for reductions in membrane surface area and immature granule volume during granule maturation

Sylvia Lew*, Ilan Hammel, Stephen J. Galli

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We used a computer-assisted morphometry approach to analyze quantitatively the process of cytoplasmic granule formation in mouse pancreatic acinar cells stimulated with pilocarpine to induce secretion. Our findings suggest that each condensing vacuole/immature granule of pancreatic acinar cells is formed by the progressive aggregation of 106 to 128 "unit progranules" of narrowly fixed volume, define a range of 7.7 to 9.2 for the factor of volume condensation between the largest immature granules and the mature unit granule, and predict that the formation of a single mature unit granule by the aggregation and fusion of unit progranules involves a net reduction of at least 95% in the amount of membrane surface area associated with these structures.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)327-336
Number of pages10
JournalCell and Tissue Research
Volume278
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1994

Keywords

  • Degranulation
  • Golgi complex
  • Mouse (ICR)
  • Pancreas
  • Pilocarpine
  • Unit granule formation

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