Abstract
Pancreatic exocrine cells can be directly converted to insulin+ beta cells by adenoviral-mediated expression of three transcription factors Pdx1, Mafa, and Ngn3 in the adult mouse pancreas (Zhou et al., Nature 455(7213):627–632, 2008). This direct reprogramming approach offers a strategy to replenish beta-cell mass and may be further developed as a potential future treatment for diabetes. Here, we provide a detailed protocol for inducing exocrine to beta-cell reprogramming in mice. We also describe key analyses we routinely use to assess the phenotype and function of reprogrammed cells.
Claudia Cavelti-Weder and Weida Li have equally contributed to this work.
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Acknowledgment
We thank Jennifer Hollister-Lock for revising the manuscript. This work was supported by NIDDK and HSCI. W. L. is supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). C. C-W. is supported by postdoctoral fellowships from the Swiss Science Foundation (SNF) and the Swiss Foundation for Grants in Biology and Medicine (SFGBM).
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Cavelti-Weder, C., Li, W., Weir, G.C., Zhou, Q. (2014). Direct Lineage Conversion of Pancreatic Exocrine to Endocrine Beta Cells In Vivo with Defined Factors. In: Kidder, B. (eds) Stem Cell Transcriptional Networks. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1150. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0512-6_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0512-6_17
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