Background/Aims: The Hippo signaling pathway regulates expansion and differentiation of stem cells and tissue progenitor cells during organ development and tissue regeneration. Previous studies have shown that YAP1, a potent effector of the Hippo signaling pathway, plays a crucial role in pancreas development, but the function of YAP1 in pancreatic progenitor cells is less known. Methods: The spatio-temporal expression pattern of YAP1 in mouse developing pancreata was detected by in situ hybridization. The effect of silencing YAP1 on the proliferation of pancreatic progenitor cells was analyzed by CCK-8 assay and Ki67 immunostaining. The regulation of miR-375 on YAP1 expression was determined by dual luciferase reporter assay, QRT-PCR and western blot. Finally, the influence of miR-375 on proliferation of pancreatic progenitor cells was analyzed by CCK-8 assay and Ki67 immunostaining. Results: We found that YAP1 was highly expressed in embryonic and adult pancreatic progenitor cells. Knocking down YAP1 by siRNA inhibited the proliferation of pancreatic progenitor cells. The mouse YAP1 was a target gene of miR-375, and miR-375 could target the 3' UTR of YAP1 mRNA to decrease its protein and mRNA levels. Similar to silencing YAP1 by siRNA, the proliferation of pancreatic progenitor cells was inhibited significantly by miR-375. Conclusion: Our results indicate that YAP1 is necessary for the proliferation of pancreatic progenitor cells and miR-375 participates in regulating YAP1 expression during pancreatic progenitor cells differentiation.

Abstract:The in vitro isolation and analysis of pancreatic stem/progenitor cells are necessary for understanding their properties and function; however, the preparation of high-quality single-cell suspensions from adult pancreas is prerequisite. In this study, we applied a cold trypsin-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) digestion method to disassociate adult mouse pancreata into single cells. The yield of single cells and the viability of the harvested cells were much higher than those obtained via the two commonly used warm digestion methods. Flow cytometric analysis showed that the ratio of ductal or BCRP1-positive cells in cell suspensions prepared through cold digestion was consistent with that found in vivo. Cell culture tests showed that pancreatic epithelial cells prepared by cold digestion maintained proliferative capacity comparable to those derived from warm collagenase digestion. These results indicate that cold trypsin-EDTA digestion can effectively disassociate an adult mouse pancreas into viable single cells with minimal cell loss, and can be used for the isolation and analysis of pancreatic stem/progenitor cells.