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Updated: Aug 17, 2026
Mimicking and Manipulating Pancreatic Acinar-to-Ductal Metaplasia in 3-dimensional Cell Culture
Published on: February 11, 2019
Adult islets cultured in collagen gel transdifferentiate into duct-like cells
1Department of Biochemistry, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Xiangya Road, Changsha 410078 Hunan Province, China.
Aim:
To establish a model of islet-ductal cell transdifferentiation to identify the transdifferentiated cells.
Methods:
Collagen was extracted from rat tail at first. Purified rat islets were divided into three groups, embedded in collagen gel and incubated respectively in DMEM/F12 alone (control group), DMEM/F12 plus epidermal growth factor (EGF), DMEM/F12 plus EGF and cholera toxin (CT). Transdifferentiation was proved by microscopy, RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and RIA.
Results:
Islets embedded in collagen gel plus EGF and CT were cystically transformed and could express new gene cytokeratin 19 while still maintaining the expression of insulin and Pdx-1 genes. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that the protein of cytokeratin 19 was only expressed in the third group. The insulin content secreted by islets in the third group decreased significantly during the transdifferentiation.
Conclusion:
CT is a crucial factor for the islet-ductal cell transdifferentiation.
