Activin/Nodal signalling maintains pluripotency by controlling Nanog expression.

The pluripotent status of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) confers upon them the capacity to differentiate into the three primary germ layers, ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm, from which all the cells of the adult body are derived. An understanding of the mechanisms controlling pluripotency is thus essential for driving the differentiation of human pluripotent cells into cell types useful for clinical applications. The Activin/Nodal signalling pathway is necessary to maintain pluripotency in human ESCs and in mouse epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs), but the molecular mechanisms by which it achieves this effect remain obscure.

Glucocorticoids stimulate the division of rat pancreatic islet tumour cells in tissue culture.

The effects of hormones on the growth of beta cells, obtained from an X-ray induced transplantable rat islet cell tumour, were studied in tissue culture. Cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified medium containing 1% bovine serum albumin, which did not permit fibroblast outgrowth. Among a variety of different hormones tested, the most potent growth promoters were found to be the corticosteroids whose potency was related to their glucocorticoid activity.

Transplantation of the pancreas in man.

This short communication reports on the outcome of eleven insulin dependent diabetics with microangiopathy of the retinae and kidneys treated with vascularised segmental pancreatic and renal allografts from the same donor. Cyclosporin A was the sole immunosuppressant.