Organ size is limited by the number of embryonic progenitor cells in the pancreas
Organ size is limited by the number of embryonic progenitor cells in the pancreas
This article proposes a novel model for regulating organ size. It also describes the differences between organ size regulation in pancreas and liver. I'd be interested to know what a person with more stem cell bakground than me thinks of this paper.
Submitted by Geoff on Thu, 02/22/2007 - 5:42pm. | Tags: Journal Article | Life Science
Stem cells vs. Developmental signals
This is an interesting paper, but it doesn't really increase our understanding for organ size regulation. It also doesn't clarify the role of stem cells in organ size regulation. They show that the pancreas is not able to grow to full organ size when stem cells are killed during development. The pancreas is an exception to a model that is based on other organs, like the liver, that do reach a full size. The biggest question that this paper brings up is whether this phenomenon is cell-intrinsic or cell-extrinsic. This may not be a stem cell story. It might be stem cells responding to developmental signals. I believe that the simplest explanation is just differential regulation during development, which is still interesting. But, if that is true, than this paper only shows that pancreas development is different than liver development. Why are they different is the key, and this paper doesn't add a lot to that story.