PART I: THE PANCREAS.- 1. Overview of the Pancreas.- 1.1. Structure of
the pancreas.- 1.2. Development of the pancreas.- 1.3. Molecular
hierarchy of pancreatic development.- 2. Physiology of the Pancreas.-
2.1. Exocrine-endocrine axis.- 2.2. Pancreatic acinar cells.- 2.3.
Pancreatic duct cells.- 2.4. Pancreatic islet cells.- 3. Common
Pancreatic Disease.- 3.1. Pancreatitis.- 3.2. Cystic fibrosis.- 3.3.
Pancreatic cancer.- 3.4. Diabetes mellitus.- PART II: THE
RENIN-ANGIOTENSIN SYSTEM (RAS).- 4. Circulating RAS.- 4.1. Definition of
circulating RAS 4.3. Angiotensinogen.- 4.3. Angiotensin-generating
enzymes.- 4.4. Angiotensin and (pro)renin receptors.- 5. Local RAS.-
5.1. Definition of the local RAS.- 5.2. Local RAS in carotid body 5.3.
Local RAS in liver.- 5.4. Local RAS in intestine.- 6. Pancreatic RAS.-
6.1. Acinar cell RAS.- 6.2. Ductal cell RAS.- 6.3. Stellate cell RAS.-
6.4. Islet cell RAS.- PART III: RESEARCH PROGRESS OF THE RAS IN
PANCREAS.- 7. Basic Techniques for Pancreatic Research.- 7.1. Cell
models.- 7.2. Animal models.- 7.3. Islet and acinar cell isolation.-
7.4. Islet transplantation.- 7.5. Expression and functional studies.- 8.
Current Research of the RAS in Diabetes Mellitus .- 8.1. Basic studies
of the RAS in T2DM.- 8.2. Clinical studies of the RAS in T2DM.- 8.3.
Current research on the RAS-vitamin D-T2DM axis.- 8.4. Current research
on the RAS-GLP1-T2DM axis.- 9. Current Research of the RAS in Pancreatic
Stem Cells.- 9.1. Source of pancreatic stem cells.- 9.2. Current
research on pancreatic stem cells.- 9.3. Current research of the RAS on
stem cells.- 9.4. Current research of the RAS on pancreatic stem cells.-
9.5. Limitations and future directions.- 10. Current Research of the RAS
in Pancreatitis and Pancreatic Cancer .- 10.1. Basic studies of the RAS
in pancreatitis.- 10.2. Current in vivo research of the RAS on
pancreatitis.- 10.3. Current in vitro research of the RAS on
pancreatitis.- 10.4. Current research of the RAS on pancreatic cancer.-
Subject Index.- Epilogue by Per-Ola Carlsson (Sweden) and Jan Danser
(Netherlands).