?-Cells are not generated in pancreatic duct ligation-induced injury in adult mice.
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ABSTRACT: The existence of adult ?-cell progenitors remains the most controversial developmental biology topic in diabetes research. It has been reported that ?-cell progenitors can be activated by ductal ligation-induced injury of adult mouse pancreas and apparently act in a cell-autonomous manner to double the functional ?-cell mass within a week by differentiation and proliferation. Here, we demonstrate that pancreatic duct ligation (PDL) does not activate progenitors to contribute to ?-cell mass expansion. Rather, PDL stimulates massive pancreatic injury, which alters pancreatic composition and thus complicates accurate measurement of ?-cell content via traditional morphometry methodologies that superficially sample the pancreas. To overcome this potential bias, we quantified ?-cells from the entire pancreas and observed that ?-cell mass and insulin content are totally unchanged by PDL-induced injury. Lineage-tracing studies using sequential administration of thymidine analogs, rat insulin 2 promoter-driven cre-lox, and low-frequency ubiquitous cre-lox reveal that PDL does not convert progenitors to the ?-cell lineage. Thus, we conclude that ?-cells are not generated in injured adult mouse pancreas.
SUBMITTER: Rankin MM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3636617 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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