Apoptosis in the Pancreatic Islet Cells of the Neonatal Rat Is Associated with a Reduced Expression of Insulin-Like Growth Factor II that May Act as a Survival Factor*

Islet cell ontogeny will define adult β-cell mass and will consist of a balance of islet cell birth and death. We have investigated the ontogeny of factors that may be related to developmental apoptosis in the islets, insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), in pancreata of young Wistar rats. Pancreata were collected from rats of 21 days gestation to 29 days postnatal age. In situ hybridization and …