Browsing by Subject "pancreatic differentiation"
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(2024)Exercise-induced hyperinsulinism (EIHI) is a pathological condition characterized by aberrant insulin secretion triggered by physical exercise or pyruvate exposure. The monocarboxylate transporter protein (MCT1), encoded by SLC16A1, is ubiquitously expressed in almost all cell types except pancreatic islet cells. In patients with EIHI, mutations in the regulatory regions of the SLC16A1 gene are thought to lead to the unwanted expression of MCT1 on the beta cell membrane, allowing the influx of elevated lactate and pyruvate blood levels during exercise. These substrates feed into the Krebs cycle, increasing insulin release. This excessive insulin secretion can lead to hypoglycemia during exercise, causing weakness, syncope, and confusion. Since EIHI has never been studied using a human stem cell-derived islets, this thesis aims to establish a robust model in which to investigate the disease mechanism in detail. To achieve this, we reprogrammed EIHI patients’ fibroblasts into a stable pluripotent state and further differentiated them into functional pancreatic stem cell-derived islets (SC-islets) in vitro. These SC-islets were then matured further in vivo (in immunocompromised mice) and compared to healthy SC-islet controls. Rigorous quality control measures were implemented throughout the differentiation process to ensure its efficacy and the expression regulation of SLC16A1 was studied during SC-islet development. Extensive phenotypic characterization was conducted using immunohistochemistry, quantitative gene expression level analysis, and insulin secretion assays with glucose and pyruvate. Contrary to expectations, the results of this study demonstrated that despite the SLC16A1 promoter mutation, the expression of SLC16A1 was downregulated similarly to the control cell line during development in vitro, resulting in similar pyruvate-stimulated insulin secretion to the control cells. Interestingly, immunohistochemical analysis of in vivo implanted SC-islets showed a clear phenotype with an increased number of MCT1-positive cells only in the mutant grafts, some of which were endocrine cells. In conclusion, the phenotypic manifestations of EIHI were not visible in the setting of in vitro modeling, which was attributed to the similar expression levels of MCT1 in both the mutant and control cell lines. However, following in vivo implantation, there was a noticeable increase in MCT1 expression exclusively in the mutant cells. This finding suggests a distinct regulatory mechanism of MCT1 expression, which might be impacted by the in vivo surroundings and the maturation state of human islets.
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(2023)Rare mutations in the primate specific ZNF808 gene are a novel cause of pancreatic agenesis, a congenital developmental disorder that leads to neonatal diabetes. ZNF808 loss-of-function has been shown to lead to aberrant activation of regulatory MER11 elements, followed by upregulation of genes in proximity to these elements and increased expression of hepatic lineage markers. These findings suggest ZNF808 to play a key role in balancing the differentiation of endoderm progenitor cells between pancreatic and liver lineages during early human development. This thesis work aimed to study the gene regulatory mechanisms of ZNF808 in the differentiating endoderm progenitor cells to understand its function in controlling pancreatic lineage specification. This was achieved by comparing the lineage specification processes in wild-type (H1) and ZNF808 knockout (H1-ZNF808-KO) human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) during pancreatic differentiation. Further characterization of cellular heterogeneity and gene expression profiles upon ZNF808 loss was done using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). To validate the role of ZNF808 as the mediator of the observed lineage specification bias, the phenotype rescue was examined in a ZNF808 knockout overexpression cell line (H1-ZNF808-KO-OX). The results of this study demonstrate a clear lineage specification bias in the ZNF808 knockout, seen as divergence of the multipotent endoderm progenitors towards alternate hepatic and biliary fates at the posterior foregut stage. By modifying the pancreatic differentiation protocol, we were able to observe phenotype manifestation and cellular heterogeneity suppressed in the standard differentiation conditions. The scRNA-seq data analysis revealed the emergence of a biliary cell population showing upregulation of several hepatic markers, suggesting an alternative lineage specification process governed by ZNF808. Additionally, preliminary results from ZNF808 overexpression showed rescue of the ZNF808 knockout phenotype, further supporting its critical role in the normal pancreatic lineage development. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate the important role of ZNF808 in early human pancreatic development and warrant further studies on the detailed gene regulatory network guiding pancreatic lineage specification.
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