Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0030305 (pancreatitis)
 16,014 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labelling (TUNEL) has been widely used for detecting cells with DNA fragmentation or apoptotic cells. However, since the concept of apoptosis is based on cellular ultrastructure, it is important to identify the morphological features of TUNEL-positive cells. In this study, we performed TUNEL and electron microscopic observation on serial semithin and ultrathin sections of pancreas from bilaterally adrenalectomized rats with caerulein-induced pancreatitis. TUNEL-positive cells were identified with two different ultrastructural patterns. One was characteristic of apoptosis, with condensed nuclei, intact mitochondria, and zymogen granules. The other pattern was one of marked cellular degeneration, possibly representing the end stage of cell death. Cells which did not demonstrate these ultrastructural patterns were not labelled by the TUNEL method. The three-dimensional structure of TUNEL-positive cells was also investigated by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), which showed the apoptotic nuclei exhibited various three-dimensional structures. These results confirm the utility of the TUNEL method in detecting apoptosis; application of the technique reported in this study will contribute to the further characterization of individual TUNEL-positive cells.
 ...
PMID:Ultrastructural and confocal laser scanning microscopic examination of TUNEL-positive cells. 912 Jul 32

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress mechanisms have been found to play critical roles in a number of diseases states, such as diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer disease, but whether they are involved in acute pancreatitis is unknown. Here we show for the first time that all major ER stress sensing and signaling mechanisms are present in exocrine acini and are activated early in the arginine model of experimental acute pancreatitis. Pancreatitis was induced in rats by intraperitoneal injection of 4.0 g/kg body wt arginine. Pancreatitis severity was assessed by analysis of serum amylase, pancreatic trypsin activity, water content, and histology. ER stress-related molecules PERK, eIF2alpha, ATF6, XBP-1, BiP, CHOP, and caspase-12 were analyzed. Arginine treatment induced rapid and severe pancreatitis, as indicated by increased serum amylase, pancreatic tissue edema, and acinar cell damage within 4 h. Arginine treatment also caused an early activation of ER stress, as indicated by phosphorylation of PERK and its downstream target eIF2alpha, ATF6 translocation into the nucleus (within 1 h), and upregulation of BiP (within 4 h). XBP-1 splicing and CHOP expression were observed within 8 h. After 24 h, increased activation of the ER stress-related proapoptotic molecule caspase-12 was observed along with an increase in caspase-3 activity and TdT (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase)-mediated dUDP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining in exocrine acini. These results indicate that ER stress is an important early acinar cell event that likely contributes to the development of acute pancreatitis in the arginine model.
 ...
PMID:Early activation of endoplasmic reticulum stress is associated with arginine-induced acute pancreatitis. 1657 87