Development of the exocrine and endocrine pancreas Flashcards
What tissue (gastrulation) creates the pancreas?
The endoderm
What is the function of the pancreas?
To regulate blood glucose metabolism and food digestion.
What are the exocrine and endocrine functions of the pancreas?
Exocrine: secrete digestive enzymes
Endocrine: Secrete hormons into blood vessels (insulin, glucagon ect.)
What are Islets of Lagerhans?
Groups of cells in the pancreas that secrete hormons, like insulin, into the blood vessels
What stimulates insulin secretion?
Rising blood glucose level
What stimulates glucagon secretion?
Dropping blood glucose level
When does islets of the pancreas develop?
Maturation and remodeling happens postnatally
Where does the pancreas develop?
As an extension of the gut tube
What TFs are important for initiating pancreas development?
Inhibition of Shh and respons to Pdx1
What regulates the creation of endo- and exocrine cells in the pancreas?
The amount of the TF Ptf1a
What role does the epithelial-mesenchymal interaction play in pancreas development?
Mesenchymal cells are important for directing the endoderm away from the intestinal lineage and they guide epithelial growth
How is the extracellular matrix involved in pancreas development?
Cell adhesion and integrin-mediated signalling are required for the 3D structure of the pancreas, which influences cell fate acquisition
What are the extrinsic (outside the cell) factors important for pancreas development?
Mesenchymal cells, factors secreted from these, vasculature, notochord and the heart
Where does specialized lagerhans cells locate in the developing pancreas?
On the outside of the growing bud
What type of progenitor creates ‘holes’ in the pancreas?
Exocrine progenitor cells (acinar cells) polarize and create holes in the pancreas, that will later form branching
