Abstract
ABSTRACT: To define developmental patterns, we determined the rate of protein and DNA synthesis in rat pancreas at birth, 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 14, 21, 28 days, 2 months, 3 months, and in adults. Fragments of freshly minced pancreas were incubated with [3H]-thymidine and [14C]-leucine and the DNA and protein synthesis rates were measured. We found that 1) DNA content was lowest at birth, rose through day 3, plateaued at about 8 mg/g wet weight through day 14, then slowly decreased to the adult value of about 5 mg/g at 2 months; 2) protein content, although high at birth, decreased rapidly to a value of 80 mg/g at day 3 and slowly rose to the adult value of 160 mg/g; 3) protein synthesis, low at birth, rapidly increased to about five times the adult value by day 3, and remained elevated for the 1st month; 4) DNA synthesis was 15 times the adult rate at birth, increased to 30 times at 3 days of age, then declined slowly in an exponential fashion to the adult value. We conclude that the pancreas at birth is poised biosynthetically to undergo a rapid hyperplastic and hypertrophic response, and this process reaches a maximal rate at about 3 days of age.
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Werlin, S., Colton, D., Virojanavat, S. et al. DNA and Protein Synthesis in Developing Rat Pancreas. Pediatr Res 22, 34–38 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198707000-00009
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198707000-00009