title: Alpha cells beget beta cells.
abstract: Understanding the origins of insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas could lead to new treatments for diabetes. Collombat et al. (2009) now show that in response to injury, a population of pancreatic progenitor cells can give rise to glucagon-expressing alpha cells that then transdifferentiate into beta cells.
authors: Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA. zliu4@partners.org
authors: Zhengyu
authors: Z
authors: Liu
authors: Joel F
authors: JF
authors: Habener
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050416:Glucagon-Secreting Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D010179:Pancreas / Q000166:cytology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology