Cytochemical study of the distribution of adenosine triphosphatase in the pancreas of the dog

Dog pancreatic tissue, incubated in a modified Wachstein-Meisel medium, showed two different adenosine triphosphatase activities. One of them is located at the apical border of the cells lining the intralobular ducts and of the centroacinar cells and is stimulated by HCO3-, depressed by SCN- and OCN- and completely abolished by CN-. The other is located at the intracellular clefts of the epithelium lining the interlobular ducts and is stimulated by Mg++. These findings correlate well with the results of incubation of homogenates of fresh and fixed tissues. Their significance with respect to the role of different segments of the duct system in the formation of the pancreatic juice is discussed.