Ultrastructural and cytochemical studies on the cytodifferentiation of duodenal endocrine cells

Summary The development and cytodifferentiation of endocrine cells that produce the gastrointestinal hormones gastrin, cholecystokinin and secretin have been studied by a combined fluorescence-cytochemical, immunocytochemical and ultrastructural approach. The results show that, during development, several ultrastructurally distinct cell types exhibit COOH-terminal gastrin and cholecystokinin immunoreactivity. Furthermore, some cells simultaneously contain both gastrin- and cholecystokinin-specific antigenic determinants. Studies on the time course of development of gastrin and cholecystokinin cells, together with the above-mentioned data, suggest that gastrin cells may be converted into cholecystokinin cells in development. During this period, gastrin, cholecystokinin and secretin cells store the biogenic monoamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine a feature not displayed by the adult counter-parts of these cells. In the adult duodenum, characteristic enterochromaffin (EC) cells store 5-hydroxytryptamin for which, evidence for a possible hormonal role has been presented. Taken together, our data indicate that the differentiation of duodenal endocrine cells occurs in distinct steps, each involving a restriction in the biosynthetic repertoire of the cell.