Journal
JOURNAL OF CELL SCIENCE
Volume 126, Issue 17, Pages 3848-3861Publisher
COMPANY BIOLOGISTS LTD
DOI: 10.1242/jcs.123570
Keywords
Beta cell; Gene expression; miRNA; Pancreatic differentiation; Stem cell
Categories
Funding
- Hartwell Foundation
- Marie Mayer Foundation
- Autism Speaks Dennis Weatherstone fellowship
- California Institute for Regenerative Medicine [RT1-01108, TR1-01250, CL1-00502]
- National Institutes of Health [R21 MH087925]
- Esther O'Keeffe Foundation
- California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Tools and Technology Award [RT1-011071]
- UTHealth Department funds
- National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Career Development Award [K12 HD001259]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to insulin-expressing beta islet-like cells is a promising in vitro model system for studying the molecular signaling pathways underlying beta cell differentiation, as well as a potential source of cells for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate many biological processes, including cellular differentiation. We studied the miRNA and mRNA expression profiles of hPSCs at five stages of in vitro differentiation along the pancreatic beta cell lineage (definitive endoderm, primitive gut tube, posterior foregut, pancreatic progenitor and hormone-expressing endocrine cells) in the context of samples of primary human fetal pancreas and purified adult islet cells using microarray analysis. Bioinformatic analysis of the resulting data identified a unique miRNA signature in differentiated beta islet cells, and predicted the effects of key miRNAs on mRNA expression. Many of the predicted miRNA-mRNA interactions involved mRNAs known to play key roles in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process and pancreatic differentiation. We validated a subset of the predictions using qRT-PCR, luciferase reporter assays and western blotting, including the known interaction between miR-200 and ZEB2 (involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition) and the novel interaction between miR-200 and SOX17 (a key transcription factor in specification of definitive endoderm). In addition, we found that miR-30d and let-7e, two miRNAs induced during differentiation, regulated the expression of RFX6, a transcription factor that directs pancreatic islet formation. These findings suggest that precise control of target mRNA expression by miRNAs ensures proper lineage specification during pancreatic development.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available