RNA-seq of Pdx1-GFP+ sorted E10.5, wildtype and Hes1-/-. Neurog3-dependent Pancreas Dysgenesis Causes Ectopic Pancreas in Hes1 Mutants

RNA-seq of FACS Sorted E10.5 Pdx1-GFP+ of genotypes wildtype and Hes1-/-. Summary statement The developmental mechanisms that cause ectopic pancreas are poorly understood. We show that aberrant dorsal pancreas morphogenesis in Hes1 mutants leads to ectopic pancreas depending on the pro-endocrine gene Neurog3. Abstract Mutations in Hes1, a target gene of the Notch signalling pathway, lead to ectopic pancreas by a poorly described mechanism. Here we use genetic inactivation of Hes1 combined with lineage tracing in mouse embryos to reveal an endodermal requirement for Hes1 and that most ectopic pancreas tissue is derived from the E8.5 dorsal pancreas primordium. RNA-seq data from sorted E10.5 Pdx1-GFP+ cells from Hes1+/+ and Hes1-/- suggested that upregulation of endocrine lineage genes in Hes1-/- embryos was the major defect in the endoderm and accordingly early pancreas morphogenesis was normalised and the ectopic pancreas phenotype suppressed in Hes1-/-Neurog3-/- embryos. Analysis of other Notch pathway mutants uncovered a total depletion of progenitors in Mib1 deficient dorsal anlage, which was replaced by an anterior Gcg+ extension. Together, our results demonstrate that aberrant morphogenesis is the cause of ectopic pancreas and that a part of the endocrine differentiation program is mechanistically involved in the dysgenesis. Our results suggest that the ratio of endocrine lineage to progenitor cells is important for morphogenesis and that a strong endocrinogenic phenotype without complete progenitor depletion as seen in Hes1 mutants provokes an extreme dysgenesis that causes ectopic pancreas.