Exocrine cells secrete something that promotes the differentiation and survival of endocrine cells during pancreas development.

‘The exocrine tissue of the pancreas, which is responsible for digestion, could have important implications for diabetes treatment.’

However, while the exocrine and endocrine tissues operate independently in mature pancreas, they are formed at the same time during pancreas development. Kawaguchi wondered if diseased exocrine tissue could cause deficiencies in the production of endocrine cells. To investigate this possibility, his team constructed mice that depleted the Pdx1 gene, which in the pancreas is exclusively found in exocrine tissue. The result was underdeveloped pancreas, but in addition, and surprisingly, the mice showed diabetes phenotype, such as low insulin levels, suggesting endocrine development was also affected. However, what caught the researchers' attention was which cells had changed.





Endocrine progenitor cells that did not have the mutation in the mutant mice also showed poor survival. These results suggest non-cell autonomous effects, which describes the phenomenon where cells with genetic defects may cause malfunction in neighboring, genetically healthy cells, and could have important implications for diabetes treatment.
Kawaguchi said, "This is an exciting finding. It means the exocrine cells secrete something that promotes the differentiation and survival of endocrine cells during development. This substance could lead to promising treatments for diabetes."
Source-Eurekalert