Stem Cell: Lessons for Pancreatic Development and Disease

Dear colleagues,

The human pancreas is composed of an exocrine and endocrine part, both of which can be affected by disease, injury or embryonic maldevelopment. Understanding mechanisms that provoke pancreatic diseases is therefore relevant for future improvement of treatment options for patients. Many reasons lead to pancreatic dysfunction. Exogenous factors, such as alcohol consumption, and endogenous factors, such as mutated genes, contribute to devastating pancreatic diseases such as pancreatitis, cystic fibrosis, diabetes mellitus or pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). In light of that, this Special Issue will focus on the role of stem cells and/or related programs during pancreatic disease and development.

Different kinds of stem cells are present in many parts and processes of the human organism. They are involved in a plethora of processes starting from de novo generation of tissues, regeneration from disease and injuries, and finally in the onset, maintenance, and progression of tumors.

Fate decision of the pancreas occurs during embryonic development. Pluripotent stem cells differentiate to mature pancreatic cells by passing through different milestones of embryonic development. Deleterious germline-mutations, such as in the CFTR-gene resulting in mucoviscidosis, will therefore affect the function of the pancreas. While such mutations inhibit the adult pancreas function, other mutations even lead to abnormal development of the pancreas or harbor risks for further development of pancreatic disorders. Re-activation of genetic programs from early development is crucial for injury-induced organ regeneration. Interestingly, pluripotent stem cells share differentiation potential and self-renewal capabilities with their tissue-resident counterparts, the latter being a source of organ regeneration. During the onset of PDAC, the reprogramming of cells to express stem-cell-related gene expression signatures facilitates the progression of PDAC.

Taken together, stem cells and stem-cell-related gene expression patterns in different other cell types are significant contributors to the development, maintenance, regeneration, and disease modulation in the human pancreas, and therefore, stem-cell-focused investigation approaches seem highly promising for deciphering pancreatic disorders.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to elicit the diverse roles of stem cells and their related pathways and signaling programs in the setting of pancreatic development and disease. Therefore, we highly welcome papers concerning: (1) the embryonic and postnatal development of the pancreas, (2) the role of stem cells and stem-cell-related molecular programs during pancreatic disease and regeneration, (3) stem-cell-based approaches for pancreatic disease modeling, and (4) the role of cancer stem cells during the progression of PDAC.

Prof. Alexander Kleger
Dr. Michael Melzer
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• pancreas
• stem cells
• embryonic development
• disease modelling
• regeneration