Centroacinar Cells Are Progenitors That Contribute to Endocrine Pancreas Regeneration.

ABSTRACT: Diabetes is associated with a paucity of insulin-producing β-cells. With the goal of finding therapeutic routes to treat diabetes, we aim to find molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in β-cell neogenesis and regeneration. To facilitate discovery of such mechanisms, we use a vertebrate organism where pancreatic cells readily regenerate. The larval zebrafish pancreas contains Notch-responsive progenitors that during development give rise to adult ductal, endocrine, and centroacinar cells (CACs). Adult CACs are also Notch responsive and are morphologically similar to their larval predecessors. To test our hypothesis that adult CACs are also progenitors, we took two complementary approaches: 1) We established the transcriptome for adult CACs. Using gene ontology, transgenic lines, and in

SUBMITTER: Delaspre F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4587647 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature