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Benary2021 - tissue dynamics of the hepato-pancreato-biliary organ system

ABSTRACT: Single cell-based studies have revealed tremendous cellular heterogeneity in stem cell and progenitor compartments, suggesting continuous differentiation trajectories with intermixing of cells at various states of lineage commitment and notable degree of plasticity during organogenesis. The hepato-pancreato-biliary organ system relies on a small endoderm progenitor compartment that gives rise to a variety of different adult tissues, including liver, pancreas, gallbladder, and extra-hepatic bile ducts. Experimental manipulation of various developmental signals in the mouse embryo underscored important cellular plasticity in this embryonic territory. This is also reflected in the existence of human genetic syndromes as well as congenital or environmentally-caused human malformations featuring multiorgan phenotypes in liver, pancreas and gallbladder. Nevertheless, the precise lineage hierarchy and succession of events leading to the segregation of an endoderm progenitor compartment into hepatic, biliary, and pancreatic structures are not yet established. Here, we combine computational modelling approaches with genetic lineage tracing to assess the tissue dynamics accompanying the ontogeny of the hepato-pancreato-biliary organ system. We show that a multipotent progenitor domain persists at the border between liver and pancreas, even after pancreatic fate is specified, contributing to the formation of several organ derivatives, including the liver. Moreover, using single-cell RNA sequencing we define a specialized niche that possibly supports such extended cell fate plasticity.

SUBMITTER: Fabian Konrath

PROVIDER: MODEL2105030001 | BioModels | 2021-07-01

REPOSITORIES: BioModels

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Project description:Understanding how distinct cell types arise from common multipotent progenitor cells is a major quest in stem cell biology. This knowledge will aid in the targeted differentiation and growth of stem cells, but also in the discovery of the basis of cellular plasticity and of how tissue programming can be controlled. The liver and pancreas share many aspects of their early development, being both specified in the same region of the endoderm, and, possibly, originating from a common progenitor. However, how pancreas versus liver cell fate decision occurs during embryogenesis and the molecular basis of this cellular plasticity are poorly understood. Here, we use RNA-Seq to define the molecular identity of liver and pancreas progenitors directly in mouse embryos and to investigate the mechanisms regulating the emergence of liver or pancreas as alternative fates from the endoderm. Progenitor cell-specific RNA was obtained from mouse Prox1-EGFP-labeled embryonic cells isolated by FACS at distinct developmental stages, before and after the onset of organogenesis. By integrating the temporal and spatial gene expression profiles, we found mutually exclusive signaling signatures in hepatic and pancreatic progenitors. Importantly, we identified the non-canonical Wnt pathway as a potential developmental regulator of the pancreas versus liver fate decision, being expressed in the foregut endoderm, before the cell fate choice is made, and then maintained in pancreas progenitors but absent in hepatic progenitors. Moreover, when assayed in Xenopus embryos, the non-canonical Wnt pathway is able to promote pancreatic fate and repress hepatic fate in the endoderm, suggesting an ancient mechanism for controlling pancreas versus liver fate choice. We expect that this knowledge will be key to formulate reprogramming strategies to convert adult hepatic cells into pancreatic cells as a cell-based therapeutic approach for diabetes. We performed sequencing-based expression profiling (RNA-Seq) of hepatic and pancreatic progenitors in the mouse at two distinct developmental stages.

Project description:deBack2012 - Lineage Specification in Pancreas Development This model of two neighbouring pancreas precursor cells, describes the exocrine versus endocrine lineage specification process. To account for the tissue scale patterns, this couplet model has been extended to hundreds of coupled cells. This model is described in the article: On the role of lateral stabilization during early patterning in the pancreas de Back W., Zhou JX, Brusch L J. R. Soc. Interface 6 February 2013 vol. 10 no. 79 20120766 Abstract: The cell fate decision of multi-potent pancreatic progenitor cells between the exocrine and endocrine lineages is regulated by Notch signalling, mediated by cell–cell interactions. However, canonical models of Notch-mediated lateral inhibition cannot explain the scattered spatial distribution of endocrine cells and the cell-type ratio in the developing pancreas. Based on evidence from acinar-to-islet cell transdifferentiation in vitro, we propose that lateral stabilization, i.e. positive feedback between adjacent progenitor cells, acts in parallel with lateral inhibition to regulate pattern formation in the pancreas. A simple mathematical model of transcriptional regulation and cell–cell interaction reveals the existence of multi-stability of spatial patterns whose simultaneous occurrence causes scattering of endocrine cells in the presence of noise. The scattering pattern allows for control of the endocrine-to-exocrine cell-type ratio by modulation of lateral stabilization strength. These theoretical results suggest a previously unrecognized role for lateral stabilization in lineage specification, spatial patterning and cell-type ratio control in organ development. This model is hosted on BioModels Database and identified by: MODEL1211010000 . To cite BioModels Database, please use: BioModels Database: An enhanced, curated and annotated resource for published quantitative kinetic models . To the extent possible under law, all copyright and related or neighbouring rights to this encoded model have been dedicated to the public domain worldwide. Please refer to CC0 Public Domain Dedication for more information.

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Benary2021 - tissue dynamics of the hepato-pancreato-biliary organ system

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