Gene expression profiling of a mouse model of islet dysmorphogenesis

In the past decade, several transcription factors critical for pancreas development have been identified. Despite this success, many of the cell surface and extracellular factors necessary for proper islet morphogenesis and function remain uncharacterized. Previous studies have shown that transgenic over-expression of the transcription factor HNF6 specifically in the pancreatic endocrine cell lineage resulted in the disruption of islet morphogenesis, including dysfunctional endocrine cell sorting, increased islet size, and failure of islets to migrate away from the ductal epithelium. We exploited the dysmorphic islets in pdx1PBHnf6 animals as a tool to identify factors important for islet morphogenesis. Genome-wide microarray analysis was used to identify differences in the gene expression profiles of late gestation and early postnatal pancreas tissue from wild type and pdx1PBHnf6 animals. We report the identification of genes with an altered expression in HNF6 Tg animals and highlight factors with potential importance in islet morphogenesis.

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Wilding Crawford L, Tweedie Ables E, Oh YA, Boone B, Levy S, Gannon M