Distribution of basal lysosomes in exocrine acinar cells.

We examined the distribution of trimetaphosphatase (TMPase)-positive basal lysosomes in pancreas, parotid, submandibular, sublingual, and exorbital lacrimal glands from rats, rabbits, and guinea pigs. The location of the basal lysosomes was compared to that of the acid phosphatase (AcPase)-positive lysosomes. In all of the tissues examined from rat and rabbit, AcPase activity was localized primarily to the Golgi region. Reaction product was localized in GERL, immature secretory granules, and lysosomes lying adjacent to the Golgi apparatus. TMPase activity was found in basal lysosomes and in occasional elongated lysosomes adjacent to the Golgi apparatus. In guinea pig, the distribution of TMPase activity was identical to that seen in the other two species, but a significant number of lysosomes in the basal region of the cells also contained AcPase activity. These results confirm and extend our previous finding (J Histochem Cytochem 31:1209, 1983) that exocrine acinar cells possess two distinct populations of lysosomes. The lysosomes in the Golgi region contain both AcPase and TMPase activity, whereas those in the basal portion of the cells are reactive predominantly for TMPase. The functional significance of the two populations of lysosomes is not understood at present.