Pax4 and Arx Represent Crucial Regulators of the Development of the Endocrine Pancreas

Figure 3

The forced expression of Pax4 in alpha-cells induces their conversion to beta-like cells. The use of the site-specific recombination (Figure 2) as well as the tetracycline inducible system to control the forced expression of Pax4 in alpha-cells was found to induce their conversion into functional beta-like cells and to promote a concomitant induction of alpha-like cell regeneration. The shortage in glucagon provoked by the conversion of alpha-cells into beta-cells appeared to contribute to the mobilization of duct-lining precursor cells that reactivate Ngn3 and undergo EMT (epithelial mesenchymal transition) prior to adopting an alpha-like cell identity. Such cells are yet again turned into beta-like cells upon Pax4 misexpression, and should it be maintained.