Pancreatic regeneration: basic research and gene regulation

Pancreatic regeneration (PR) is an interesting phenomenon that could provide clues as to how the control of diabetes mellitus might be achieved. Due to the different regenerative abilities of the pancreas and liver, the molecular mechanism responsible for PR is largely unknown. In this review, we describe five representative murine models of PR and thirteen humoral mitogens that stimulate beta-cell proliferation. We also describe pancreatic ontogenesis, including the molecular transcriptional differences between alpha-cells and beta-cells. Furthermore, we review 14 murine models which carry defects in genes related to key transcription factors for pancreatic ontogenesis to gain further insight into pancreatic development.