Pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) is a premalignant lesion that can progress to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, a highly lethal malignancy marked by its late stage at clinical presentation and profound drug resistance1. The genomic alterations that commonly occur in pancreatic cancer include activation of KRAS2 and inactivation of p53, and SMAD42-4. To date, however, it has been challenging to target these pathways therapeutically; thus the search for other key mediators of pancreatic cancer growth remains an important endeavor. Here we show that the stem cell determinant Musashi (Msi) is a critical element of pancreatic cancer progression in both genetic models and patient derived xenografts. Specifically, we developed Msi reporter mice that allowed image based tracking of stem cell signals within cancers, revealing that Msi expression rises as PanIN progresses to adenocarcinoma, and that Msi-expressing cells are key drivers of pancreatic cancer: they preferentially harbor the capacity to propagate adenocarcinoma, are enriched in circulating tumor cells, and are markedly drug resistant. This population could be effectively targeted by deletion of either Msi1 or Msi2, which led to a striking defect in PanIN progression to adenocarcinoma and an improvement in overall survival. Msi inhibition also blocked the growth of primary patient-derived tumors, suggesting that this signal is required for human disease. To define the translational potential of this work we developed antisense oligonucleotides against Msi; these showed reliable tumor penetration, uptake and target inhibition, and effectively blocked pancreatic cancer growth. Collectively, these studies highlight Msi reporters as a unique tool to identify therapy resistance, and define Msi signaling as a central regulator of pancreatic cancer.

Genetic variants affecting pancreatic islet enhancers are central to T2D risk, but the gene targets of islet enhancer activity are largely unknown. We generate a high-resolution map of islet chromatin loops using Hi-C assays in three islet samples and use loops to annotate target genes of islet enhancers defined using ATAC-seq and published ChIP-seq data. We identify candidate target genes for thousands of islet enhancers, and find that enhancer looping is correlated with islet-specific gene expression. We fine-map T2D risk variants affecting islet enhancers, and find that candidate target genes of these variants defined using chromatin looping and eQTL mapping are enriched in protein transport and secretion pathways. At IGF2BP2 , a fine-mapped T2D variant reduces islet enhancer activity and IGF2BP2 expression, and conditional inactivation of IGF2BP2 in mouse islets impairs glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Our findings provide a resource for studying islet enhancer function and identifying genes involved in T2D risk.

Microenvironmental control of interstitial flow around pancreatic islets effectively maintains islet function in vitro.

Summary During pancreas development, epithelial buds undergo branching morphogenesis to form an exocrine and endocrine gland. Proper morphogenesis is necessary for correct lineage allocation of pancreatic progenitors; however, the cellular events underlying pancreas morphogenesis are unknown. Here, we employed time-lapse microscopy and fluorescent labeling of cells to analyze cell behaviors associated with pancreas morphogenesis. We observed that outer bud cells adjacent to the basement membrane are pleomorphic and rearrange frequently; as well, they largely remain in the outer cell compartment even after mitosis. These cell behaviors and pancreas branching depend on cell contacts with the basement membrane, which induce actomyosin cytoskeleton remodeling via integrin-mediated activation of FAK/Src signaling. We show that integrin signaling reduces E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion in outer cells, and provide genetic evidence that this regulation is necessary for initiation of branching. Our study suggests that regulation of cell motility and adhesion by local niche cues initiates pancreas branching morphogenesis.