Researchers have long linkurl:debated;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/home/53256/ the presence of stem cells in the pancreas that generate insulin-producing beta cells. Now researchers have shown that beta cells are indeed produced in the adult mouse pancreas, which means the tissue must contain stem cells. The linkurl:paper,;http://www.cell.com/content/article/abstract?uid=PIIS0092867407016169, published today (January 24) in Cell, "reconciles some conflicting observations that have been around for a while in regards to these special progenitors," linkurl:Jake Kushner,;http://www.med.upenn.edu/camb/faculty/cbp/kushner.html from the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the study, told The Scientist. For a long time there was conflicting data on whether or not beta cell progenitor cells existed in the pancreas, he added; in particular, the expression of Neurogenin 3(Ngn3), the earliest islet beta cell transcription factor in embryonic development, had been seen in low amounts by some researchers, in high amounts by others. The researchers, led by linkurl:Harry Heimberg,;http://www.betacell.org/php/bio_show.php?bioid=9102 at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium, purified...
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