Figure 1.

Altered temporal Ca²⁺ release profile in pancreatic lobules in the in vivo acute pancreatitis model. A–D, pancreatic lobules were excised from mice given three consecutive i.p. injections of either 0.9% saline or caerulein (50 μg/kg/injection), followed by loading with the Ca²⁺ indicator Fluo-2/AM (25 μm) for 1 h. [Ca²⁺]_i dynamics were measured using a multiphoton microscope. PAC from mice treated with saline elicited robust Ca²⁺ oscillations in response to 300 nm carbachol (A and D). In contrast to the control saline injection condition, PAC from mice subjected to caerulein treatment elicited Ca²⁺ transients with a significantly lower frequency (B and D), which could not be rescued by increasing the concentration of the stimulus (C and D). Experiments for each condition were repeated in preparations from three different animals, with more than 20 calcium responses analyzed in each repeat. Two representative traces (black and red) were given for each of the conditions. *, statistical significance determined by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's multiple comparisons test.