This thesis represents an effort to examine certain aspects of the differentiation potential of normal and neoplastic (spontaneously- and chemically-transformed) cultured rat pancreatic ductal cells under the influence of two microenvironments. / The technique of in vivo implantation of cells to subcutaneous and intraperitoneal sites is used as it not only reveals the intrinsic potential of the implanted cells but also reflects the effects of the microenvironment on phenotypic expression. / The results of these studies indicate that when implanted in vivo normal propagable cultured cells derived from the duct epithelium of adult rat pancreas develop phenotypic features of a hepatocyte, and that the extent of this phenotypic expression is influenced by the microenvironment in which these cells are implanted. When localized subcutaneously, the cells displayed partial differentiation toward hepatocytes but retained some of their ductal phenotype. In contrast, when the same cells were implanted intraperitoneally, they expressed the full phenotypic properties of mature hepatocytes. Both spontaneously- and chemically-transformed pancreatic ductal cell lines did not display phenotypic differentiation along the hepatocytic lineage after in vivo implantation. It is concluded that (1) pancreatic ductal cells can be the progenitor cell for pancreatic hepatocytes; (2) Neoplastic transformation of these cell lines results in partial or total loss of hepatoctyic differentiation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.28996 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Chen, Jim-Ray |
| Contributors | Duguid, W. P. (advisor), Tsao, M.-S. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Pathology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001468181, proquestno: NN08084, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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