Originally published as JHC exPRESS on September 3, 2009. doi:10.1369/jhc.2009.954206
Volume 57 (12): 1149-1158, 2009 Copyright © 2009 Author et al. Embryonic Stem Cell Transplantation Correlates With Endogenous Neurogenin 3 Expression and Pancreas Regeneration in Streptozotocin-injured Mice
Section for Studies on Metastasis (MK,GQ) and Genetics Division (KY,KA), National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan; Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Co., Ltd., Research Management Department, Mie, Japan (KT); and Central Laboratory, Effector Cell Institute, Inc., Tokyo, Japan (SK,GQ) Correspondence to: Gary Quinn, PhD, Central Laboratory, Effector Cell Institute, Inc., 4-7-7 Aobadai, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-0042, Japan. E-mail: garyquinn99{at}hotmail.com Pancreatic β cell regeneration remains poorly understood, yet stimulation of adult β cell neogenesis could lead to therapies for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. We studied the effect of embryonic stem (ES) cell transplantation on pancreas regeneration following β cell injury. Female Balb/c nude mice were treated with streptozotocin to induce hyperglycemia and received an ES cell transplant 24 hr later beneath the renal capsule. Transplantation of ES cells prevented hyperglycemia in a subset of mice, maintaining euglycemia and mild glucose tolerance up to 5 weeks. Pancreata of euglycemic mice showed histological evidence of β cell regeneration and expression of pancreas and duodenum transcription factor-1 (PDX-1) and neurogenin 3 (Ngn3) in ductal epithelium. Cell tracing analysis indicated that significant β cell neogenesis from progenitor cells occurred between 2 to 3 weeks following injury in ES cell–transplanted mice but not in sham-transplanted animals. Significantly, whereas pancreas-localized ES cells or their derivatives were adjacent to sites of regeneration, neogenic pancreatic epithelia, including Ngn3+ cells, were endogenous. In conclusion, transplanted ES cells can migrate to the injured pancreas. Transplantation is associated with enhanced endogenous regeneration characterized by expression of Ngn3 and increased β cell differentiation from endogenous progenitor cells. This manuscript contains online supplemental material at http://www.jhc.org. Please visit this article online to view these materials. (J Histochem Cytochem 57:1149–1158, 2009)
Key Words: pancreas regeneration diabetes neurogenin 3 PDX-1 pancreatic islets embryonic stem cells streptozotocin islet pancreatic β cells cell transplantation
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