Laboratory of Nervous System Development, Scientific Research Institute of Human Morphology, Department of Medical Biological Sciences, Russian Academy of Medical Science , Moscow , Russia.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2014 Apr 22;5:57. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2014.00057. eCollection 2014.
The ontogeny of the neuro-insular complexes (NIC) and the islets innervation in human pancreas has not been studied in detail. Our aim was to describe the developmental dynamics and distribution of the nervous system structures in the endocrine part of human pancreas. We used double-staining with antibodies specific to pan-neural markers [neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and S100 protein] and to hormones of pancreatic endocrine cells. NSE and S100-positive nerves and ganglia were identified in the human fetal pancreas from gestation week (gw) 10 onward. Later the density of S100 and NSE-positive fibers increased. In adults, this network was sparse. The islets innervation started to form from gw 14. NSE-containing endocrine cells were identified from gw 12 onward. Additionally, S100-positive cells were detected both in the periphery and within some of the islets starting at gw 14. The analysis of islets innervation has shown that the fetal pancreas contained NIC and the number of these complexes was reduced in adults. The highest density of NIC is detected during middle and late fetal periods, when the mosaic islets, typical for adults, form. The close integration between the developing pancreatic islets and the nervous system structures may play an important role not only in the hormone secretion, but also in the islets morphogenesis.
神经胰岛复合体（NIC）和胰岛神经支配的个体发生在人类胰腺中尚未得到详细研究。我们的目的是描述人类胰腺内分泌部分的神经系统结构的发育动态和分布。我们使用针对神经特异性烯醇化酶（NSE）和 S100 蛋白等多种神经标记物和胰腺内分泌细胞激素的双重染色方法。从妊娠第 10 周（gw）开始，在人类胎儿胰腺中就可以识别出 NSE 和 S100 阳性神经和神经节。随后，S100 和 NSE 阳性纤维的密度增加。在成年人中，这种网络稀疏。胰岛神经支配从 gw 14 开始形成。从 gw 12 开始就可以识别出含有 NSE 的内分泌细胞。此外，从 gw 14 开始，在胰岛的外周和某些胰岛中也检测到 S100 阳性细胞。对胰岛神经支配的分析表明，胎儿胰腺中存在 NIC，而这些复合物的数量在成年期减少。在形成典型的成人马赛克胰岛的中晚期胎儿期，NIC 的密度最高。发育中的胰岛与神经系统结构之间的紧密整合不仅在激素分泌中而且在胰岛形态发生中都可能发挥重要作用。
