BACKGROUND Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF; palifermin) is a growth factor with a high degree of specificity for epithelial cells. KGF is an important effector of epithelial growth and tissue homeostasis in various organs including the pancreas. Here we investigated the intracellular signaling pathways involved in the mediation of pancreatic ductal cell proliferation and differentiation induced...

Bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and immunosuppressive properties and are a potent source for cell therapy. Cell fusion has been proposed for rapid generation of functional new reprogrammed cells. In this study, we aimed to establish a fusion protocol of bone marrow-derived human MSCs with the rat beta-cell line (INS-1E) as well as human isolate...

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is believed to arise through a multistep model comprised of putative precursor lesions known as pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN). Recent genetically engineered mouse models of PDAC demonstrate a comparable morphologic spectrum of murine PanIN (mPanIN) lesions. The histogenesis of PanIN and PDAC in both mice and men remains controversial. The m...

Lineage-specific transcription factors (TFs) display instructive roles in directly reprogramming adult cells into alternate developmental fates, in a process known as transdifferentiation. The present study analyses the hypothesis that despite being fast, transdifferentiation does not occur in one step but is rather a consecutive and hierarchical process. Using ectopic expression of Pdx1 in hum...

In a tour-de-force study, Kobayashi et al. (2010) describe the first viable rat-mouse chimeras and demonstrate that rat induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can rescue organ deficiency in mice. Rat iPS cells formed a fully functional pancreas when injected into mouse blastocysts lacking the Pdx1 gene required for pancreas formation.

BACKGROUND Facilitation is the process of providing support to individuals or groups to achieve beneficial change. It is intrinsic to the Gold Standards Framework (GSF) for palliative care, a programme introduced widely in UK general practices. OBJECTIVES To explore how GSF facilitators fulfil their role and the impact of the facilitators' backgrounds and approach on practices' uptake of the ...

BACKGROUND In common with international health policy, The End of Life Care Strategy for England has highlighted the delivery of high quality palliative care in the acute hospital setting as an area of priority. AIM The aim of this study was to explore the extent of palliative care need in the acute hospital setting, and to explore agreement between different sources in the identification of ...

Capsaicin is a major biologically active ingredient of chili peppers. Extensive studies indicate that capsaicin is a cancer-suppressing agent via blocking the activities of several signal transduction pathways including nuclear factor-kappaB, activator protein-1 and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3. However, there is little study on the effect of capsaicin on pancreatic carcin...

Conditional gene deletion in specific cell populations has helped the understanding of pancreas development. Using this approach, we have shown that deleting the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene in pancreatic precursor cells leads to a doubled beta-cell mass. Here, we provide genetic tools that permit a temporally and spatially controlled expression of target genes in pancreatic cells using th...