Identification of genes enriched in putative stem/progenitor cells from mouse embryonic pancreas

Identification of genes enriched in putative stem/progenitor cells (CD133highPDGFRb- cell population) from the mouse embryonic pancreas that are purified by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). Success in islet transplantation-based therapies for type 1 diabetes mellitus and an extreme shortage of pancreatic islets has motivated efforts to develop renewable sources of islet-replacement tissue. Only a few attempts have been made at prospective isolation of pancreatic stem/progenitor cells, due to the lack of specific markers and the development of cell culture method. This study demonstrates the isolation of pancreatic stem/progenitor cells from the embryonic pancreas by cell sorting. RT-PCR and microarray analysis demonstrated that pancreatic stem/progenitor cells are enriched in CD133highPDGFRb- cell population. During in vivo differentiation, these cell populations have the ability for self-renewal and multipotency, including the formation of insulin-producing cells. Since the strategy is based on the cell sorting using cell surface markers common to human and rodents, it may promote strategies to derive transplantable islet-replacement tissues from human pancreatic stem/progenitor cells. Keywords: Cell type comparison A couple of total RNAs derived from the different status of PDGFRb- cells was subjected to a dual-color microarray analysis, in which the RNAs from CD133highPDGFRb- cell population was labeled with Cy3 and that of CD133negPDGFRb- cell population with Cy5 respectively.