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Quinacrine affinity of endocrine cell systems containing dense core vesicles as visualized by fluorescence microscopy

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Summary

Intravenous injections of low amounts of the fluorescent antimalarial acridine derivative quinacrine into rats and mice lead to selective high affinity binding of the drug, which can be visualized by fluorescence microscopy, to several hormone-producing cell systems. Injection of 1 mg/kg causes strong drug accumulation in the granules of renin-producing juxtaglomerular cells of the kidney and in several types of cells of the pancreatic islets, and a moderate binding to parafollicular cells in the thyroid gland, chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla, several gastrointestinal cell systems including APUD cells, cells of the anterior pituitary gland, neurosecretory neurons and mast cells. These different cell systems all have large dense-core storage granules.

The present results, together with our earlier finding of a population of gastrointestinal nerve fibers which demonstrate a similar selective high affinity binding of quinacrine might all be explained by a binding of quinacrine to large dense-core storage granules, since such granules are known to be present also in certain gastrointestinal nerve fibers. This is further supported by the finding that endocrine cell systems lacking such granules, such as steroid producing cells in the adrenal cortex and testis, do not accumulate quinacrine. Peptide storage, possibly mediated by or accompanied by purines such as ATP within the granules or an acidic intragranular pH constitute possible binding mechanisms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Histology, Karolinska Institutet, Box 60400, S-104 01, Stockholm 60, Sweden

    M. Ålund & L. Olson

  2. Department of General Surgery, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    M. Ålund & L. Olson

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  1. M. Ålund
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  2. L. Olson
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Ålund, M., Olson, L. Quinacrine affinity of endocrine cell systems containing dense core vesicles as visualized by fluorescence microscopy. Cell Tissue Res. 204, 171–186 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234631

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