Endocrine Abstracts

The endocrine pancreas develops from cells of the endoderm which in response to extracellular signals express the transcription factor PDX1 that subsequently induces formation of the pancreas. At a later stage neurogenin 3 (ngn3) is activated in a sub-set of cells that are then destined to become endocrine cells. The final stage of differentiation to the various cell types of the islets of Langerhans is controlled by a number of transcription factors including PAX4 and PDX1 (i...