2023-04-21 03:30:22
For the first time, German researchers have succeeded in cultivating organoids of the pancreas. What does this mean for cancer and diabetes research? read it here
Researchers at the University Hospital and the University of Ulm have succeeded for the first time in examining both exocrine and endocrine Organoide the pancreas to breed. The pancreatic cells were developed from pluripotent stem cells that were differentiated into a particular pancreatic progenitor cell. This artificial pancreas can provide valuable services in diabetes and cancer research – both in diagnostics and in therapy. Those were published Results in the journal Theranostics.
The country needs more organoids
After years of work, Ulm researchers have managed to grow organoids of the three relevant cell types of the pancreas. On the one hand, this includes the endocrine cells in the pancreas that are responsible for the production and release of blood sugar-regulating hormones Insulin and Glucagon are responsible. On the other hand, they were also able to differentiate the same pancreatic progenitor cells into cells with an exocrine function. These include, in particular, the acinar cells that are responsible for the production and secretion of digestive juices in the pancreas.
“Until now, there were no reliable methods to produce acinus cells at all, let alone to produce them simultaneously from the same progenitor cells as the other two cell types,” emphasizes Prof. Alexander Kleger, Director of the Institute for Molecular Oncology and Stem Cell Biology at the University Hospital Ulm, who conducted the study directed.Immunofluorescence staining of acinar organoids. Expression of the typical acinar markers trypsin (top right in red) and carboxypeptidase 1 (bottom right in green). Credit: Merz et al. Theranostics 13(6) 2023.
Relevant for cancer and diabetes research
The research team has thus achieved something that has not been possible before: modeling the embryonic development of the pancreas in an in vitro system. For this purpose, a model was developed that could bring new fundamental insights to light in both diabetes and cancer research. “By specifically switching on and off signaling pathways that play a role in pancreatic development, we can gradually mimic the stages of embryonic development in cell culture in order to grow the respective cell types of the pancreas,” says Sarah Merz, first author of the study and scientific Employee at Kleger’s Institute.
To generate the various pancreatic cell types, pancreatic progenitor cells were obtained from human pluripotent stem cells. This progenitor population is characterized by high expression of the marker Glycoprotein 2 (GP2) defined. Due to the specific GP2 accumulation, these progenitor cells have the ability to develop simultaneously into three different cell lineages of the pancreas: endocrine, ductal and acinar cells. By means of GP2 enrichment, it was possible for the first time ever to also obtain acinus cells from a common progenitor population.
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“With this model, which includes all three cell lines of the pancreas, the effects of mutations can be examined in a cell-type-specific manner,” says Kleger. This brings great advantages for research on pancreatic tumors. Since 98 percent of all carcinomas of the pancreas affect the exocrine part of the pancreas, it is all the more important to be able to use model organoids in research that also include exocrine cells. In the case of ductal adenocarcinoma, which is feared because of its high mortality rate, the glandular tissue is particularly affected. This human organ model could possibly also help to further reduce animal experiments in diabetes and pancreas research in the future.
This article is based on a press release of the University of Ulm. We have the original publication for you here and linked in the text.
Image source: Chris Briggs, unsplash
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