title: The Wilms' tumor gene WT1 is a common marker of progenitor cells in fetal liver.
abstract: It is well known that the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 plays an important role in cell proliferation and differentiation, and in organ development. In this study, to examine the role of the WT1 gene in lineage determination, fetal liver cells from LacZ-transgenic mice, in which WT1 expression was marked by the expression of the LacZ gene driven by WT1 promoter, were FACS-sorted according to LacZ expression of high (LacZ(++)) or undetectable (LacZ(-)) levels, which paralleled endogenous WT1 expression levels. LacZ(++) fetal liver cells were enriched by hepatocyte and endothelial progenitor cells. These results indicated that WT1 expression is a common marker of both hepatocyte and endothelial progenitors. These results also implied a role of the WT1 gene in lineage determination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Diagnostic Science, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanato
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hosen
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yanagihara
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakagata
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shirakata
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakazawa
authors.forename: Sumiyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsuboi
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.forename: Tomoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oji
authors.forename: Annemieke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ijpenberg
authors.forename: Nicholas D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Hastie
authors.forename: Haruo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology; D016162:Genes, Wilms Tumor; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics*; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000379:methods; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D025721:WT1 Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; D025721:WT1 Proteins; D001616:beta-Galactosidase