Mind bomb 1 is required for pancreatic β-cell formation

S Horn, S Kobberup, MC Jørgensen… - Proceedings of the …, 2012 - National Acad Sciences
S Horn, S Kobberup, MC Jørgensen, M Kalisz, T Klein, R Kageyama, M Gegg, H Lickert
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012National Acad Sciences
During early pancreatic development, Notch signaling represses differentiation of endocrine
cells and promotes proliferation of Nkx6-1+ Ptf1a+ multipotent progenitor cells (MPCs).
Later, antagonistic interactions between Nkx6 transcription factors and Ptf1a function to
segregate MPCs into distal Nkx6-1− Ptf1a+ acinar progenitors and proximal Nkx6-1+ Ptf1a−
duct and β-cell progenitors. Distal cells are initially multipotent, but evolve into unipotent,
acinar cell progenitors. Conversely, proximal cells are bipotent and give rise to duct cells …
During early pancreatic development, Notch signaling represses differentiation of endocrine cells and promotes proliferation of Nkx6-1+Ptf1a+ multipotent progenitor cells (MPCs). Later, antagonistic interactions between Nkx6 transcription factors and Ptf1a function to segregate MPCs into distal Nkx6-1Ptf1a+ acinar progenitors and proximal Nkx6-1+Ptf1a duct and β-cell progenitors. Distal cells are initially multipotent, but evolve into unipotent, acinar cell progenitors. Conversely, proximal cells are bipotent and give rise to duct cells and late-born endocrine cells, including the insulin producing β-cells. However, signals that regulate proximodistal (P-D) patterning and thus formation of β-cell progenitors are unknown. Here we show that Mind bomb 1 (Mib1) is required for correct P-D patterning of the developing pancreas and β-cell formation. We found that endoderm-specific inactivation of Mib1 caused a loss of Nkx6-1+Ptf1a and Hnf1β+ cells and a corresponding loss of Neurog3+ endocrine progenitors and β-cells. An accompanying increase in Nkx6-1Ptf1a+ and amylase+ cells, occupying the proximal domain, suggests that proximal cells adopt a distal fate in the absence of Mib1 activity. Impeding Notch-mediated transcriptional activation by conditional expression of dominant negative Mastermind-like 1 (Maml1) resulted in a similarly distorted P-D patterning and suppressed β-cell formation, as did conditional inactivation of the Notch target gene Hes1. Our results reveal iterative use of Notch in pancreatic development to ensure correct P-D patterning and adequate β-cell formation.
National Acad Sciences