Page 1 of 105 Diabetes Murine perinatal beta cell proliferation and the differentiation of human stem cell derived insulin expressing cells require NEUROD1 Anthony I. Romer,1,2 Ruth A. Singer1,3, Lina Sui2, Dieter Egli,2* and Lori Sussel1,4* 1Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA 2Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA 3Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Studies, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA 4Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Denver, CO 80045, USA *Co-Corresponding Authors Dieter Egli 1150 St. Nicholas Avenue New York, NY 10032
[email protected] Lori Sussel 1775 Aurora Ct. Aurora, CO 80045
[email protected] Word Count: Abstract= 149; Body= 4773 Total Paper Figures= 7, Total Supplemental Tables= 4, Total Supplemental Figures= 5 Diabetes Publish Ahead of Print, published online September 13, 2019 Diabetes Page 2 of 105 Abstract Inactivation of the β cell transcription factor NEUROD1 causes diabetes in mice and humans. In this study, we uncovered novel functions of Neurod1 during murine islet cell development and during the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (HESCs) into insulin-producing cells. In mice, we determined that Neurod1 is required for perinatal proliferation of alpha and beta cells. Surprisingly, apoptosis only makes a minor contribution to beta cell loss when Neurod1 is deleted. Inactivation of NEUROD1 in HESCs severely impaired their differentiation from pancreatic progenitors into insulin expressing (HESC-beta) cells; however survival or proliferation was not affected at the time points analyzed. NEUROD1 was also required in HESC-beta cells for the full activation of an essential beta cell transcription factor network.