Ectopic Ptf1a expression in murine ESCs potentiates endocrine differentiation and models pancreas development in vitro.

ABSTRACT: Besides its role in exocrine differentiation, pancreas-specific transcription factor 1a (PTF1a) is required for pancreas specification from the foregut endoderm and ultimately for endocrine cell formation. Examining the early role of PTF1a in pancreas development has been challenging due to limiting amounts of embryonic tissue material for study. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) which can be differentiated in vitro, and without limit to the amount of experimental material, can serve as a model system to study these early developmental events. To this end, we derived and characterized a mouse ESC line with tetracycline-inducible expression of PTF1a (tet-Ptf1a mESCs). We found that transient ectopic expression of PTF1a initiated the pancreatic program in differentiating ESCs causing cells to acti

SUBMITTER: Nair GG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4283475 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature