Alteration of Cpn60 expression in pancreatic tissue of rats with acute pancreatitis

The expression of heat-shock protein 60 (also known as chaperonin 60, Cpn60) in experimental acute pancreatitis (AP) is considered to play an active role in the prevention of abnormal enzyme accumulation and activation in pancreatic acinar cells. However, there are controversial results in the literature regarding the relationship between the abnormality of Cpn60 expression and AP onset and development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the alternations of Cpn60 expression and the relationship between the abnormal expression of Cpn60 and AP progression in rat severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) models. In this report, we induced SAP in Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats by reverse injection of sodium deoxycholate into the pancreatic duct, and examined the dynamic changes of Cpn60 expression in pancreatic tissues from different time points and at different levels with techniques of real-time PCR, western blotting, and immunohistochemistry. At 1 h after SAP induction, the expression of Cpn60 mRNA in the AP pancreatic tissues was higher than those in the sham-operation group and normal control group, but decreased sharply as the time period was extended, and there was a significant difference between 1 h and 10 h after SAP induction (p < 0.05). In the AP process, Cpn60 protein expression showed transient elevation as well, and the increased protein expression occurred predominantly in affected, but not totally destroyed, pancreatic acinar cells. As AP progressed, the pancreatic tissues were seriously damaged, leading to a decreased overall Cpn60 protein expression. Our results show a complex pattern of Cpn60 expression in pancreatic tissues of SAP rats, and the causality between the damage of pancreatic tissues and the decrease of Cpn60 level needs to be investigated further.