Chromatin Regulators in Pancreas Development and Diabetes

The chromatin landscape of a cell is dynamic and can be altered by chromatin regulators that control nucleosome placement and DNA or histone modifications. Together with transcription factors, these complexes help dictate the transcriptional output of a cell and, thus, balance cell proliferation and differentiation while restricting tissue-specific gene expression. In this review, we describe current research on chromatin regulators and their roles in pancreas development and the maintenance of mature β cell function, which, once elucidated, will help us better understand how β cell differentiation occurs and is maintained. These studies have so far implicated proteins from several complexes that regulate DNA methylation, nucleosome remodeling, and histone acetylation and methylation that could become promising targets for diabetes therapy and stem cell differentiation.

TrendsThe chromatin state of cis-regulatory loci is dictated by epigenetic modifications to DNA, histones, and nucleosomes.Chromatin regulators modify chromatin to influence gene expression, development, and proliferation, which drive cellular transitions.The processes of pancreas development and maintenance of mature, functional β cells depend on the actions of key chromatin regulators and transcription factors.Proteins involved in chromatin regulation are in the spotlight as targets for future diabetes therapies and to improve stem cell differentiation.