| description |
Based on the ability of FGF and/or WNT signaling to control posterior fate and intestinal lineage commitment, several groups have reported that treating mouse or human Pluripotent Stem Cell (PSC) derived definitive endoderm (DE) with small molecules or ligands that activate WNT signaling, or a combination of WNT and FGF signaling can induce an intestinal fate in human DE. In this current study, we leverage hESC derived human intestinal organoids (HIOs) to test the hypothesis that the duration of exposure to high levels of FGF and WNT signaling controls regional intestinal identity, with shorter durations generating intestine similar to the proximal duodenum, and longer durations distalizing HIOs to become similar to jejunum/ileum. Our results demonstrate that exposing human definitive endoderm (DE) cultures to short or long incubations of media that activate WNT and FGF siganling results in gene and protein expression profiles that are consistent with tissue that has been patterned into proximal (duodenum) or distal (ileum) small intestine, respectively. |