Fig. 3: Ttk suppresses pros to prevent EC-to-EE transdifferentiation.

a, b Overexpression of Ttk69 in EEs leads to the suppression of Pros expression and loss of peptide hormones. c, d Depleting Pros expression in Ttk-depleted ECs using pros-RNAi prevents the expression of AstC. e–h Depleting Pros expression in Ttk-depleted ECs using pros-RNAi abolishes the suppression of Myo1A-GFP (e) and Pdm1 expression (f). Conversely, overexpressing Pros alone is sufficient to suppress Myo1A-GFP (g) and Pdm1 expression (h) in ECs. i A heatmap displays the expression patterns of differentially expressed genes between ECs and EEs in EC>Pros-OE and EC>ttk-RNAi & pros-RNAi cells. A general transcriptome reprogramming towards an EE identity is observed in EC>Pros-OE cells, while co-depleting Pros prevents the expression of EE identity genes induced by Ttk-RNAi. j Another heatmap illustrates the expression of selected EE signature genes in normal EEs, ECs, and EC>Pros-OE cells. An overall activation of EE identity genes, including peptide hormones, secretory factors, and EE subtype-regulating TFs, is observed in ECs overexpressing Pros. Scale bars, 20 μm.