Pancreas: Stem and Progenitor Cells in Adults

The pancreas as an organ has multiple functions, including regulating blood sugar and producing digestive enzymes to break down food. Thus is it is composed of many cell types. The pancreas appears as two distinct clusters of cells, the endocrine and the exocrine pancreas. The exocrine pancreas is composed of cells that make up the ducts that carry pancreatic enzymes (ductal cells) and cells that produce the digestive enzymes (acinar cells). The exocrine pancreas makes up approximately 85 percent of the pancreatic cell volume. The clusters of acinar cells are organized into bulb like glands that transition into the duct-like structures lined by ductal epithelial cells. The endocrine pancreas, on the other hand, makes up a small portion of the pancreas and is organized into ...