关键词: 肝干细胞, 胰十二指肠同源盒基因-1启动子, 转分化, 绿色荧光蛋白

Abstract: BACKGROUND ＆ AIM: To construct the fluorescence protein expression vector as a reporter for studying the transdifferentiation potency of liver epithelial progenitor cells (LEPCs) to pancreas-like cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Pancreatic duodenal homeobox-1(PDX-1) promoter was amplified by PCR from mouse tail genomic DNA and subcloned into promoter-removed pEGFP N1 vector. By using the reporter gene tagging cells, the phenotype variation of LEPCs transdifferentiated into pancreas-like cells could be evaluated. RESULTS: EGFP expression vector driven by PDX-1 promoter could monitor the transdifferentiation of LEPCs into pancreas-like cells in a real-time manner. CONCLUSION: The reporter vector is useful for studying the transdifferentiation of LEPCs into pancreas-like cells.

Key words: liver epithelial progenitor cells, pancreatic duodenal homeobox-1 promoter, transdifferentiation, enhanced green fluorescence protein