Acinar-ductal cell rearrangement drives branching morphogenesis of the murine pancreas in an IGF/PI3K-dependent manner

Dev Cell. 2024 Feb 5;59(3):326-338.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2023.12.011. Epub 2024 Jan 17.ABSTRACTDuring organ formation, progenitor cells need to acquire different cell identities and organize themselves into distinct structural units. How these processes are coordinated and how tissue architecture(s) is preserved despite the dramatic cell rearrangements occurring in developing organs remain unclear. Here, we identified cellular rearrangements between acinar and ductal progenitors as a mechanism to drive branching morphogenesis in the pancreas while preserving the integrity of the acinar-ductal functional unit. Using ex vivo and in vivo mouse models, we found that pancreatic ductal cells form clefts by protruding and pulling on the acinar basement membrane, which leads to acini splitting. Newly formed acini remain connected to the bifurcated branches generated by ductal cell rearrangement. Insulin growth factor (IGF)/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway finely regulates this process by controlling pancreatic ductal tissue fluidity, with a simultaneous impact on branching and cell fate acquisition. Together, our results explain how acinar structure multiplication and branch bifurcation are synchronized during pancreas organogenesis.PMID:38237591 | DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2023.12.011

Source: Developmental Cell - January 18, 2024 Category: Cytology Authors: Jean-Francois Darrigrand Anna Salowka Alejo Torres-Cano Rafael Tapia-Rojo Tong Zhu Sergi Garcia-Manyes Francesca M Spagnoli Source Type: research