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© The Rockefeller University Press,
0021-9525/2001//911 $5.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 152, Number 5,
, 2001 911-922
Original Article |
Autocrine Stimulation of Human Pancreatic Duct–Like Development by Soluble Isoforms of Epimorphin in Vitro
hkalthoff{at}email.uni-kiel.de
Epimorphin was recently described as a mesenchymal factor modulating morphogenesis of murine mammary ducts, skin, liver, and lung in vitro. In this study epimorphin was analyzed in a human, pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell line (A818-6) which develops single layer epithelial hollow spheres resembling normal pancreatic ductal structures in vitro. Soluble 34- and 31-kD isoforms of epimorphin were found in the culture supernatant of A818-6 cells. In lysates of A818-6 cells we detected the 34-and 31-kD isoforms and the dimers, and in lysates of fibroblasts the 150-kD tetramers of epimorphin additionally. A neutralizing monoclonal antibody against epimorphin (MC-1) efficiently blocked the development of hollow sphere structures from A818-6 cells. Coculture of A818-6 cells with fibroblasts stimulated the development of hollow sphere structures in general and increased differentiation in 5–6-d-old hollow spheres. A818-6 hollow sphere development in the presence of fibroblasts was also blocked by MC-1. In this novel system for human duct-like differentiation of pancreatic epithelial cells, we provide evidence for an autocrine and paracrine function of epimorphin as a major mediator for morphogenesis.
Key Words: epimorphin pancreas epithelial differentiation spheres duct structures
© 2001 The Rockefeller University Press
Abbreviations used in this paper: 3D, three-dimensional; bFGF, basic FGF; CAII, carbonic anhydrase II; EGFP, enhanced green fluorescent protein; HGF, hepatocyte growth factor; HRG, heregulin; IL, interleukin; KGF, keratinocyte growth factor; VSV-G, vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein.
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