Fig. 2 |. Regeneration of the exocrine pancreas.

The exocrine pancreas is composed of acinar cells that synthesize and secrete digestive enzymes, ductal cells that funnel the enzymes into the small intestine, and central acinar cells. The exocrine pancreas can regenerate spontaneously and robustly in both animals and humans. Inflammatory injuries to the exocrine pancreas such as acute pancreatitis lead to acinar cell death and acinar dedifferentiation, which is characterized by degranulation and morphological transformation into duct-like cells in a process termed acinar-to-ductal metaplasia. Once inflammation subsides, acinar cells can rapidly regenerate by self-replication and possible redifferentiation of the metaplastic duct-like cells back into a normal and functional acinar state.