Studies on the Secretory Process in Exocrine Pancreas Cells. II. C57 Black and Beige Mice

Published electron microscopic and cytochemical studies (thiamine pyrophosphatase and acid phosphatase) on exocrine pancreas cells of guinea pig, hamster, rat and rabbit have demonstrated that the nascent secretory granules, or condensing vacuoles, are part of GERL. The studies reported here show this to be true of the mouse pancreatic exocrine cells as well, thus permitting comparison of this cell type in the C57 black mouse and its "beige" mutant. This is of considerable interest because GERL is very much enlarged in these cells of the beige mouse. Most of GERL consists of wide dilated portions filled with electron-opaque materials that appear to be packaged into huge residual body-type lysosomes ("anomalous granules"). Acid phosphatase activity is demonstrable not only in these portions of GERL, but also in the condensing vacuoles as in pancreatic acinar cells in the black mouse where these dilated lysosome-producing regions are not present.