We have recently reported that preconditioning through hyperthermia induces expression of pancreatic heat shock proteins (HSPs) and protects against caerulein pancreatitis. Here, we investigate caerulein-mediated effects on pancreatic HSPs without prior hyperthermia. Caerulein time and dose dependently increased pancreatic mRNA levels of the constitutive isoform of HSP70 (HSC70). However, pancr...

Acute pancreatitis (AP) has been shown in some studies to inhibit total protein synthesis in the pancreas while in other studies protein synthesis was not affected. Previous in vitro work has shown that high concentrations of cholecystokinin both inhibit protein synthesis and inhibit the activity of the guanine nucleotide exchange factor eIF2B by increasing the phosphorylation of the eukaryotic...

In order to characterize the biological functions coupled to cholecystokinin (CCK) A and B receptors, the effects of gastrin(2-17 ds) and caerulein were compared. An isolated cell model, the pancreatic acinar cell line AR4-2J, was used and the experiments were carried out in serum-free media. Caerulein was found to evoke no mitogenic effects either alone or in the presence of the CCK antagonist...

Acute pancreatitis (AP) has been shown in some studies to inhibit total protein synthesis in the pancreas, whereas in other studies, protein synthesis was not affected. Previous in vitro work has shown that high concentrations of cholecystokinin both inhibit protein synthesis and inhibit the activity of the guanine nucleotide exchange factor eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)2B by increasing th...

solution, which prompted an immediate discharge from the cutaneous granular glands. The skin was then cut into small pieces and cultured in a nutrient/salts medium in a manner similar to that described by Baily (1971). One of the amino acids in the medium was replaced by the 3H-labelled amino acid. The skin cultures were incubated for up to 7 days at 28°C. After 3 and 7 days, samples of skin we...

During acute pancreatitis, protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) can be activated by interstitially released trypsin. In the mild form of pancreatitis, PAR2 activation exerts local protection against intrapancreatic damage, whereas, in the severe form of pancreatitis, PAR2 activation mediates some systemic complications. This study aimed to identify the molecular mechanisms of PAR2-mediated prot...

BACKGROUND Platelets not only control thrombosis and haemostasis but may also regulate inflammatory processes. Acute pancreatitis (AP) is characterized by changes in both coagulation and proinflammatory activities. The role of platelets in AP is not yet known. METHODS AP was induced in C57BL/6 mice by repeated caerulein administration (50 µg/kg intraperitoneally). Mice received a platelet-dep...

Caerulein, gastrin and pentagastrin stimulation of the Na+/H+ exchange leads to intracellular alkalinisation in pancreatic acinar cells. Activation of protein kinase-C is the more probable mechanism involved in the effect of caerulein.

Caerulein (I) is a decapeptide present in the skin of Hyla caerulea and other Australian hylid frogs,1' 2 of Leptodactylus pentadactylus labyrinthicus and related South American leptodactylid frogs, and finally of the South African amphibian Xenopus laevis.3 The South American hylid frogs of the Phyllo-medusa genus contain a decapeptide, phyllocaerulein(II), strictly related to caerulein.4 The ...

Pancreatic trypsin output and plasma secretin and cholecystokinin (CCK) levels were measured in five healthy volunteers to investigate the mechanisms involved in regulating postprandial pancreatic secretion. The pancreas was stimulated by a liquid test meal or by either intravenous secretin (1-82 pmol/kg-1 per h-1) or caerulein, a CCK analogue (2.3-37 pmol/kg-1 per h-1), or by a combination of ...