Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) at different concentrations on the proliferation of pancreatic ductal epithelial cells (PDECs). Methods The PDECs were identified by immunocytochemical stain and RT-PCR. PDECs counting was carried out at different KGF concentrations. Results Nestin and CK19 were positively expressed in PDECs by RT-PCR and immunocytochemical stain; PDECs were stimulated by different concentrations of KGF after 2 days, and PDECs number stimulated by 20 mg/L KGF was 0.35±0.03,much higher than that of the control group which was 0.27±0.02. Conclusions KGF at different concentrations can significantly stimulate the proliferation of PDECs, the optimized concentration in our tests was 20μg/L.

Key words: Pancreatic ductal epithelial cells (PDECs), Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), proliferation, Diabetes mellitus (DM)