Endoderm articles from across Nature Portfolio

Sox9 is a well-known transcriptional regulator of embryonic pancreas and endocrine cell development. Here, the authors show that loss of Sox9 in mature beta cells disrupts alternative splicing patterns and impairs insulin secretion, with significant implications for cellular function.

Omrani, Krepelova et al. report that aging-induced proinflammatory IFNγ/Stat1 signalling primes intestinal stem cells to a secretory fate and to antigen presenting cells impairing the regenerative capacity of the aging gut epithelium.

The primitive gut tube gives rise to all major internal organs, while underlying regulatory mechanisms are unclear. Here, the authors analyze its chromatin landscape at the single-cell level and define the epigenetic regulation of lineage fate decisions and plasticity in organ development and homeostasis.

Hirano et al. show that expression of the MYC family member Mycl in adult pancreatic islets can increase proliferation and expand the functional β-cell population, thereby improving glucose control.

Human pluripotent stem cell aggregates are formed, embedded in Matrigel and directed to differentiate to heart-forming organoids by the chemical WNT pathway modulators CHIR99021 and IWP2.

Takebe et al. describe a protocol for the continuous patterning of hepatic, biliary and pancreatic structures from a 3D culture of human pluripotent stem cells.

Work from the early 1980s reported strange lobes protruding from Caenorhabditis elegans germ cell precursors. However, the fate and potential significance of these lobes remained unexplored for decades. Now, neighbouring endodermal cells are shown to sever and digest these lobes, in an unexpected process of 'intercellular cannibalism', which could play an important part in regulating primordial germ cells.

Modelling organs in culture has great potential to improve our understanding of development, organogenesis and disease. While some endodermal derived organs have been modelled, the corpus region of the stomach, where acid-producing cells reside, remained an invincible target. A 60-day differentiation protocol now enables the generation of functional acid-producing cells in culture, conquering the challenge.

The endoderm layer destined to be primitive gut is a mosaic of earlier visceral endoderm and definitive endoderm that arises later, during gastrulation. Live imaging now reveals that in mouse embryos, definitive endoderm cells egress from underlying mesoderm and intercalate into the overlying cell layer. This process requires SOX17-mediated control of basement membrane organization.

Generation of differentiated kidney cell types from pluripotent stem cells would be enormously useful for research and therapeutic purposes, but progress towards this goal has so far been limited. In three recent reports, mature kidney cell types and three-dimensional nephron-like structures were generated from pluripotent cells rapidly and efficiently. A detailed understanding of the signals that drive nephrogenesis proved critical for these achievements.