Generation of functional insulin-producing cells in the gut by Foxo1 ablation

Restoration of regulated insulin secretion is the ultimate goal of therapy for type 1 diabetes. Here, we show that, unexpectedly, somatic ablation of Foxo1 in Neurog3(+) enteroendocrine progenitor cells gives rise to gut insulin-positive (Ins(+)) cells that express markers of mature β cells and secrete bioactive insulin as well as C-peptide in response to glucose and sulfonylureas. Lineage tracing experiments showed that gut Ins(+) cells arise cell autonomously from Foxo1-deficient cells. Inducible Foxo1 ablation in adult mice also resulted in the generation of gut Ins(+) cells. Following ablation by the β-cell toxin streptozotocin, gut Ins(+) cells regenerate and produce insulin, reversing hyperglycemia in mice. The data indicate that Neurog3(+) enteroendocrine progenitors require active Foxo1 to prevent differentiation into Ins(+) cells. Foxo1 ablation in gut epithelium may provide an approach to restore insulin production in type 1 diabetes.     

Collinear activation of Hoxb genes during gastrulation is linked to mesoderm cell ingression

The vertebral column exhibits segmentation and regionalization along the antero-posterior axis. During embryogenesis, the rhythmic production of the precursors of the vertebrae, the somites, imposes a segmented aspect to the spine, whereas the spine's regional differentiation is controlled by Hox genes. Here we show that in the paraxial mesoderm, Hoxb genes are first activated in a temporal collinear fashion in precursors located in the epiblast lateral to the primitive streak. Our data suggest that collinear activation of Hoxb genes regulates the flux of cells from the epiblast to the streak and thus directly controls the establishment of the genes' characteristic nested expression domains in the somites. This suggests that establishment of the spatial co-linearity in the embryo is directly controlled by the Hox genes themselves.