title: Bile ducts as a source of pancreatic beta cells.
abstract: In recent years, there have been a number of well-documented examples demonstrating that one cell type can be converted to another. Two such examples are the appearance of ectopic pancreas in the liver and formation of hepatic tissue in the pancreas. The conversion of liver to pancreas raises the intriguing possibility of generating insulin-producing beta cells for therapeutic transplantation into diabetics. There is now a striking addition to the growing list of pancreatic conversions: the formation of pancreatic tissue in the developing biliary system.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, UK.
authors.forename: Zoë D
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.forename: Chia-Ning
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tosh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001652:Bile Ducts / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D010179:Pancreas / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D051880:Receptors, Notch; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013997:Time Factors; D014180:Transplantation
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D051880:Receptors, Notch