Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Mimicking and Manipulating Pancreatic Acinar-to-Ductal Metaplasia in 3-dimensional Cell Culture
Published on: February 11, 2019
Nicotine as a mitogenic stimulus for pancreatic acinar cell proliferation
Parimal Chowdhury1, Kodetthoor-B Udupa
1Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W Markham Street, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205, United States. pchowdhury@uams.edu
Abstract:
Cell proliferation is an important process in life for growth of normal and cancer cells. The signal transduction pathways activated during this process are strictly regulated. This editorial focuses on the role of nicotine, a mitogen, in the induction of signaling pathways resulting in proliferation of pancreatic tumor cells and compares these events with those in normal acinar cells isolated from the rat pancreas. The data shows striking similarities between these two cellular systems. In addition, the editorial reviews very recent literature of the contribution of MAPK signaling in cell lines associated with human diseases. A prospective cellular model of nicotine induced activation of MAPK cascade is presented.
Related Concept Videos
Drugs Acting on Autonomic Ganglia: Stimulants
Ganglionic stimulants activate NM nicotinic receptors in autonomic ganglia, falling into two categories: nicotine mimetics [e.g., lobeline, dimethylpiperazine, tetramethylammonium] and muscarinic receptor agonists [e.g., muscarine, methacholine]. The first category's action is rapid and blocked by nicotinic receptor antagonists, while the second category's action is delayed and blocked by atropine-like agents. Nicotine, an alkaloid, affects the heart rate by stimulating sympathetic or...
Cholinergic Receptors: Nicotinic
There are two types of nicotinic receptors: neuromuscular (NM/NM/N1) and neuronal (NN/NN/N2). The two families differ based on their location and selectivity to...
Chronic Pancreatitis II: Pathophysiology

