The zebrafish pancreas shares its basic organization and cell types with the mammalian
pancreas. In addition, the developmental pathways that lead to the establishment of the
pancreatic islets of Langherhans are generally conserved from fish to mammals. Zebrafish
provides a powerful tool to probe the mechanisms controlling establishment of the
pancreatic endocrine cell types from early embryonic progenitor cells, as well as the
regeneration of endocrine cells after damage. This knowledge is, in turn, applicable to …