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Development ePress online publication date 21 Dec 2006
doi: 10.1242/dev.02770
Review
Pancreas and beta-cell development: from the actual to the possible
L. Charles Murtaugh*
* Author for correspondence (e-mail: murtaugh{at}genetics.utah.edu)
The development of insulin-producing pancreatic beta (
)-cells represents the culmination of a complex developmental program. Cells of the posterior foregut assume a pancreatic identity, cells within the expanding pancreatic primordia adopt an endocrine fate, and a subset of these precursors becomes competent to generate
-cells. Postnatally,
-cells are primarily maintained by self-duplication rather than new differentiation. Although major gaps in our knowledge still persist, experiments across several organisms have shed increasing light on the steps of
-cell specification and differentiation. Increasing our understanding of the extrinsic, as well as intrinsic, mechanisms that control these processes should facilitate efforts to regenerate this important cell type in humans.

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