The relative levels of pancreatic amylase mRNA closely parallel the 3-fold variation of pancreatic amylase protein levels observed in several mouse strains studied. In contrast pancreatic elastase mRNA levels were similar in these strains. Each of the strains contained the same number of amylase-like genes (about 8). The selective variation in the pancreatic amylase gene expression could be due either to differences in the numbers of active amylase genes or to different rates of synthesis and/or degradation of the amylase mRNA from a constant number of genes.
