Pancreatic innervation in mouse development and beta-cell regeneration.

ABSTRACT: Pancreatic innervation is being viewed with increasing interest with respect to pancreatic disease. At the same time, relatively little is currently known about innervation dynamics during development and disease. The present study employs confocal microscopy to analyze the growth and development of sympathetic and sensory neurons and astroglia during pancreatic organogenesis and maturation. Our research reveals that islet innervation is closely linked to the process of islet maturation-neural cell bodies undergo intrapancreatic migration/shuffling in tandem with endocrine cells, and close neuro-endocrine contacts are established quite early in pancreatic development. In addition, we have assayed the effects of large-scale beta-cell loss and repopulation on the maintenance of islet innerva

SUBMITTER: Burris RE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2245866 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature