Homeoprotein hhex-induced conversion of intestinal to ventral pancreatic precursors results in the formation of giant pancreata in Xenopus embryos.

ABSTRACT: Liver and ventral pancreas develop from neighboring territories within the endoderm of gastrulae. ventral pancreatic precursor 1 (vpp1) is a marker gene that is differentially expressed in a cell population within the dorsal endoderm in a pattern partially overlapping with that of hematopoietically expressed homeobox (hhex) during gastrulation. In tail bud embryos, vpp1 expression specifically demarcates two ventral pancreatic buds, whereas hhex expression is mainly restricted to the liver diverticulum. Ectopic expression of a critical dose of hhex led to a greatly enlarged vpp1-positive domain and, subsequently, to the formation of giant ventral pancreata, putatively by conversion of intestinal to ventral pancreatic precursor cells. Conversely, antisense morpholino oligonucleotide-mediate

SUBMITTER: Zhao H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3365154 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature