In search of endocrine progenitor/stem cells in the human pancreas

Motives to isolate endocrine precursor cells vary between clinical and basic research needs. In our case, the object has been to identify cell populations that could be used for cell replacement in situations of beta-cell deficiency, such as type 1 diabetes. Initially, as was the case with most laboratories oriented toward translational islet research, experimentation was geared more toward cell replication than to the identification and isolation of putative endocrine cell precursors.