Renal Division, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Misouri; and Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis Missouri

Correspondence: Marc R. Hammerman, M.D., Renal Division, Box 8126, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110. E-mail: mhammerm@wustl.edu

Abstract

Organogenesis of the endocrine pancreas. Embryonic pancreatic primordia transplanted into diabetic animal hosts undergo selective endocrine differentiation in situ and normalize glucose tolerance. Pancreatic primordia can be transplanted across isogeneic, allogeneic, and both concordant (rat to mouse) and highly disparate (pig to rodent) xenogeneic barriers. This review explores the therapeutic potential for pancreatic organogenesis posttransplantation of embryonic primordia.