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1: Diabetes. 2007 Jan;56(1):3-7. Epub 2006 Nov 16.
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Islet-derived fibroblast-like cells are not derived via epithelial-mesenchymal transition from Pdx-1 or insulin-positive cells.

Chase LG, Ulloa-Montoya F, Kidder BL, Verfaillie CM.

Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.

As recent studies suggest that newly formed pancreatic beta-cells are a result of self-duplication rather than stem cell differentiation, in vitro expansion of beta-cells presents a potential mechanism by which to increase available donor tissue for cell-based diabetes therapies. Although most studies have found that beta-cells are resilient to substantial in vitro expansion, recent studies have suggested that it is possible to expand these cells through a process referred to as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). To further substantiate such an expansion mechanism, we used recombination-based genetic lineage tracing to determine the origin of proliferating fibroblast-like cells from cultured pancreatic islets in vitro. We demonstrate, using two culture methods, that EMT does not underlie the appearance of fibroblast-like cells in mouse islet cultures but that fibroblast-like cells appear to represent mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-like cells akin to MSCs isolated from bone marrow.

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PMID: 17110468 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]