An Insight into Vital Genes Responsible for β-cell Formation

The regulation of glucose homeostasis and insulin secretion by pancreatic β-cells, when disturbed, will result in diabetes mellitus. Replacement of dysfunctional or lost β-cells with fully functional ones can tackle the problem of β-cell generation in diabetes mellitus. Various pancreatic-specific genes are expressed during different stages of development, which have essential roles in pancreatogenesis and β-cell formation. These factors play a critical role in cellular-based studies like transdifferentiation or de-differentiation of somatic cells to multipotent or pluripotent stem cells and their differentiation into functional β-cells. This work gives an overview of crucial transcription factors expressed during various stages of pancreas development and their role in β-cell specification. In addition, it also provides a perspective on the underlying molecular mechanisms.

An Insight into the Role of GLIS1 in Embryonic Development, iPSC Generation, and Cancer

The curiosity to discover transcription factors to reprogram somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) resulted in the identification of a reprogramming factor, Gli-similar transcription factor GLIS1. This proline-rich Kruppel-like zinc finger transcription factor has a role in embryonic development, iPSC generation, and cancer. The spatial and temporal expression of GLIS1 during embryonic development implicates that it can control gene expression at specific developmental stages. Moreover, GLIS1 in combination with OCT4, SOX2, and KLF4 reprogramming factors resulted in an increase in reprogramming efficiency, giving rise to primarily bona fide iPSCs. Mutations in the GLIS1 gene are associated with several types of tumors and cancers, and it shows a tissue-specific function where it acts either as an oncogene or as a tumor suppressor gene. This review gives a comprehensive overview of GLIS1 and its important role in embryonic development, cancer, and the generation of iPSCs.