Sources, induced differentiation and molecular markers of pancreatic stem cells / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Pancreatic stem cell transplantation is a new approach for diabetes treatment. It may overcome the shortage of human donor islets and avoid the long-term applying of immunity depressors. In this article, we review the recent progress of the sources, induced differentiation and the molecular markers of pancreatic stem cells. DATA SOURCES A computer-based online search of PUBMED was undertaken to identify relative articles published in English from June 1997 to June 2006 with the keywords of "pancreatic, stem cell, differentiate, marker". Meanwhile, we searched Wanfang database for the related Chinese articles published between June 1997 and June 2006 with the same key words in Chinese. STUDY SELECTION The articles were firstly selected and the quotations cited by every article were looked over. Inclusive criteria The articles focusing on the source, induced differentiation and molecular markers of pancreatic stem cells. Exclusive criteria Repeated experiments or Meta analysis articles. DATA EXTRACTION According to the inclusive criteria, 31 articles were finally selected among the 82 ones collected from databases.Fifty-one old data or duplicated researches were excluded. Among the 31 selected articles, 6 presented the main conceptions, 15 were related to the sources of pancreatic stem cell and its induced differentiation, 9 were focused on the surface molecular markers and 2 discussed the major obstacles at present. DATA SYNTHESIS: Stem cells are pluripotential cells with the ability to self-renew; they are classified into two major classes embryonic stem cell and adult stem cell. Pancreatic stem cells, belonging to the adult stem cells, could differentiate into tube cells, insulin-secreting cells, exocrine cells and other specific pancreatic tissue cells, which possess the fundamental properties of long-term proliferation and self-renewal. The studies on the sources, induced differentiation and molecular markers of pancreatic stem cells are extremely useful for the treatment of diabetes. Recent studies have shown that besides gene engineering, insulin-secreting cells are mainly generated from the differentiation of embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells such as pancreatic duct epithelial cells, nestin-expressing pancreatic stem/precursor cells, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and haematopoietic stem cells. The investigation on the molecular markers of pancreatic stem cell surface is essential to the basic and clinical research. PDX-1, nestin, CK-19, CK-20, Ngn3 and PGP9.5 are the major markers used in the identification, isolation and purification of pancreatic stem cells. CONCLUSION: The investigations on islet cells and pancreatic stem cells transplantations are promoting. Significant advancements in search for the sources and identification of pancreatic stem cells have been achieved. However, many obstacles should be overcome before any clinical breakthroughs can be expected. With the significant improvement in stem cell research and techniques, it is possible to obtain enough pancreatic stem cells from in vitro culture for transplantation.