Retinoid signaling in pancreas development, islet function, and disease.

All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) signaling is essential in numerous different biological contexts. This review highlights the diverse roles of ATRA during development, function, and diseases of the pancreas. ATRA is essential to specify pancreatic progenitors from gut tube endoderm, endocrine and exocrine differentiation, and adult islet function. ATRA concentration must be carefully regulated during the derivation of islet-like cells from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to optimize the expression of key pancreatic transcription factors while mitigating adverse and unwanted cell-types in these cultures. The ATRA pathway is integral to the pancreas and here we will present selected studies from decades of research that has laid the essential groundwork for ongoing projects dedicated to unraveling the complexities of ATRA signaling in the pancreas.