Pdx1 maintains β-cell identity and function by repressing an α-cell program

To get a more complete picture of the transcriptional changes associated with Pdx1 loss in β-cells, we conducted an mRNA microarray comparing normal islet β-cells and a-cells to the reprogrammed cells from PKO mice. Islet beta cells are from mice which has a single copy of Pdx1 flox (Pdx1L/+) allele, but is considered normal based on normal islet morphology, gene profiling, and euglycemic status. We chose to use heterozygous mice as control to avoid the litter effect. Islet alpha cells are from normal mice. To enrich for genes directly affected by Pdx1 loss, we chose the early time-point for analysis of PKO mice (5d after TAM administration). Control mRNA profiling was performed on FACS sorted islet YFP+ β-cells and a-cells obtained from 2 month-old glucagon-Cre; RosaYFP and RIP-CreER; Pdx1fl/+, RosaYFP mice, respectively.