Mechanism of pancreatic beta cell expansion by bone marrow transplantation

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Bone marrow transplantation increases beta cell mass, however its underlying mechanism has not been elucidated yet. In this study, we investigated its mechanism. Bone marrow transplantation experiments under several conditions revealed that systemic irradiation without injection of bone marrow cells can increase beta cell mass. On the other hand, irradiation only to bone marrow or only to pancreas cannot increase beta cell mass. In addition, using beta cell specific VEGF-A knock out mice, we found that VEGF-A expression in beta cells are essential for the increase in beta cell mass by bone marrow transplantation. Accordingly, systemic irradiation is essential and sufficient for bone marrow transplantation induced increase in beta cell mass and VEGF-A in beta cells are also essential for this phenomenon.