Project description:Cellular identity during development is under the control of transcription factors that form gene regulatory networks. However, the transcription factors and gene regulatory networks underlying cellular identity in the human adult pancreas remain largely unexplored. Here, we integrate multiple single-cell RNA-sequencing datasets of the human adult pancreas, totaling 7393 cells, and comprehensively reconstruct gene regulatory networks. We show that a network of 142 transcription factors forms distinct regulatory modules that characterize pancreatic cell types. We present evidence that our approach identifies key regulators of cell identity in the human adult pancreas. We predict that HEYL, BHLHE41 and JUND are active in acinar, beta and alpha cells, respectively, and show that these proteins are present in the human adult pancreas as well as in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived islet cells. Using single cell transcriptomics, we found that JUND represses beta cell genes in hiPSC-alpha cells. Both BHLHE41 and JUND depletion seemed to increase the number of sc-enterochromaffin cells in hiPSC-derived islets. The comprehensive gene regulatory network atlas can be explored interactively online. We anticipate our analysis to be the starting point for a more sophisticated dissection of how transcription factors regulate cell identity in the human adult pancreas. Furthermore, given that transcription factors are major regulators of embryo development and are often perturbed in diseases, a comprehensive understanding of how transcription factors work will be relevant in development and disease.
Project description:The regulatory logic underlying global transcriptional programs controlling development of visceral organs like the pancreas remains undiscovered. Here, we profiled gene expression in 12 purified populations of fetal and adult pancreatic epithelial cells representing crucial progenitor cell subsets, and their endocrine or exocrine progeny. Using probabilistic models to decode the general programs organizing gene expression, we identified co-expressed gene modules in cell subsets that revealed patterns and processes governing progenitor cell development, lineage specification, and endocrine cell maturation. Module network analysis linked established regulators like Neurog3 to unrecognized roles in endocrine secretion and protein transport, and nominated multiple candidate regulators of pancreas development. Phenotyping mutant mice revealed that candidate regulatory genes encoding transcription factors, including Bcl11a, Etv1, Prdm16 and Runx1t1, are essential for pancreas development or glucose control. Our integrated approach provides a unique framework for identifying regulatory networks underlying pancreas development and diseases like diabetes mellitus. Gene expression analysis: 12 primary cell populations from wild-type pancreas and 1 cell type from a mutant background (E15 Ngn3-null cells) pancreas (in fetal and adult stage) were purified using a combination of cell surface markers and transgenic reporters. Total RNA was isolated from each cell type in at least biological triplicates, amplified and hybridized to Affymetrix Mouse 430 2.0 arrays.
Project description:The regulatory logic underlying global transcriptional programs controlling development of visceral organs like the pancreas remains undiscovered. Here, we profiled gene expression in 12 purified populations of fetal and adult pancreatic epithelial cells representing crucial progenitor cell subsets, and their endocrine or exocrine progeny. Using probabilistic models to decode the general programs organizing gene expression, we identified co-expressed gene modules in cell subsets that revealed patterns and processes governing progenitor cell development, lineage specification, and endocrine cell maturation. Module network analysis linked established regulators like Neurog3 to unrecognized roles in endocrine secretion and protein transport, and nominated multiple candidate regulators of pancreas development. Phenotyping mutant mice revealed that candidate regulatory genes encoding transcription factors, including Bcl11a, Etv1, Prdm16 and Runx1t1, are essential for pancreas development or glucose control. Our integrated approach provides a unique framework for identifying regulatory networks underlying pancreas development and diseases like diabetes mellitus.