1. Novel pancreas organogenesis markers refine the pancreatic differentiation roadmap of embryonic stem cells.
- Author
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De Angelis MT, Russo F, D'Angelo F, Federico A, Gemei M, Del Vecchio L, Ceccarelli M, De Felice M, and Falco G
- Subjects
- Animals, Biomarkers metabolism, Gene Expression, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Glycoproteins metabolism, Homeodomain Proteins metabolism, Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Mice, Nerve Tissue Proteins metabolism, Organ Specificity, Pancreas cytology, Pancreas metabolism, Trans-Activators metabolism, Cell Differentiation, Embryonic Stem Cells physiology, Organogenesis, Pancreas embryology
- Abstract
The generation of pancreatic endocrine and exocrine functional precursors from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is an intriguing opportunity to address cell therapy challenges. The main goal of cellular regeneration is to derive, in vitro, pancreatic progenitor cells (PPCs) that retain the capacity to differentiate following the in vivo developmental ontogeny. In our work, we aim to refine the pancreatic in vitro cellular transitions, through the identification of the intrinsic factors that mark the pancreas budding process at embryonic stage 10.5 (E10.5), in which pancreas precursor specification predominantly occurs. We identified a cohort of genes (Bex1, Nepn, Pcbd1, Prdxdd1, Rnf160, Slc2a1, and Tff3) that marked the pancreas budding genesis, and above all signaled ESC differentiation transitions during pancreatic lineage commitment. Noticeably, we demonstrated that the expression of Nepn marked a naïve pancreatic cellular state that resembled PPC-like specification. Our data considerably improve the comprehension of pancreatic cellular ontogeny, which could be critical for implementing pluripotent stem cells programming and reprogramming toward pancreatic lineage commitment.
- Published
- 2014
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