Researchers discovered that adult mice pancreas harbor stem
cells with the capacity to generate new insulin-producing beta
cells. “One of the most interesting characteristics of these
adult progenitor cells is that they are almost indistinguishable
from embryonic progenitors,” says Harry Heimberg, M.D., Ph.D.,
of the JDRF Center at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. “In terms of
their structure and gene expression, there are no major
differences. They look and behave just like embryonic beta cell
progenitors.” In the new study, Dr. Heimberg’s team tied off a
duct that drains digestive enzymes from the pancreas. That
injury led to a doubling of beta cells in the pancreas within
two weeks. The animals’ pancreases also began producing more
insulin, evidence that the new beta cells were fully functional,
Dr. Heimberg explains. He suspects the regenerative process is
sparked by an inflammatory response in the enzyme-flooded
pancreas. They further found that the production of new beta
cells depends on a gene called Neurog