The pancreas is an endocrine gland and digestive organ which secretes hormones and produces pancreatic juice to aid in digestion. Pancreatic endocrine cells, aka pancreatic islets, produce vital hormones such as glucagon, insulin, amylin, and somatostatin. The mature pancreas consists of a highly branched, tubular epithelial tree-like network, which makes up the bulk of the pancreas and is primarily exocrine in function. As pancreatic epithelium differentiates during late gestation, acinar cells mature at branch tips, while ductal and endocrine progenitors emerge in branch stalks. Endocrine cells escape from their epithelial neighbours via delamination and coalesce into islets. The remaining tubular epithelium gives rise to the ductal branches that make up the pancreatic tree. The exocrine (acinar/ductal) and endocrine compartments thus share their origins within the pre-pancreatic epithelium; and furthermore grow coordinately together forming a dual-function integrated organ.