Cholinergic intrapancreatic neurons induce Ca2+ signaling and early-response gene expression in pancreatic acinar cells

Pancreatic exocrine function has been demonstrated to be under neuronal regulation. The pathways responsible for this effect, and the long-term consequences of such interactions, are incompletely described. The effects of neuronal depolarization on pancreatic acinar cells were studied to determine whether calcium signaling and c-fos expression were activated. In pancreatic lobules, which contain both neurons and acinar cells, agonists that selectively stimulated neurons increased intracellular calcium in acinar cells. Depolarization also led to the expression of c-fos protein in 24% +/- 4% of the acinar cells. In AR42J pancreatic acinar cells, cholinergic stimulation demonstrated an average increase of 398 +/- 19 nmol/L in intracellular calcium levels, and induced c-fos expression that was time and dose dependent. The data indicate that intrapancreatic neurons induce Ca2+ signaling and early-response gene expression in pancreatic acinar cells.