PDX-1 and MafA: Key Transcription Factors in Pancreas
- 1 Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan
Abstract
Pancreatic and duodenal homeobox factor-1 (PDX-1) plays a crucial role in pancreas development, β-cell differentiation and in maintaining normal β-cell function by regulating several β-cell-related genes including insulin. PDX-1 has potency to induce insulin-producing cells in non β-cells in various tissues such as pancreas and liver and PDX-1-VP16 fusion protein more efficiently induces insulin-producing cells, especially in the presence of NeuroD or Ngn3. MafA is a recently isolated β-cell-specific transcription factor and functions as a potent transactivator for the insulin gene. MafA markedly enhances insulin gene promoter activity and ameliorates glucose tolerance in diabetic mice, especially in the presence of PDX-1 and NeuroD. Taken together, PDX-1 and MafA play a crucial role in inducing insulin-producing cells and could be a therapeutic target for diabetes.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/ajbbsp.2005.54.63
Copyright: © 2005 Hideaki Kaneto, Takeshi Miyatsuka, Yoshihisa Nakatani and Taka-aki Matsuoka. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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Keywords
- PDX-1
- MafA
- transcription factor
- pancreatic b-cells
- diabetes