Gp2, or glycoprotein 2, has diverse functions. It was originally identified as a predominant membranous component of pancreatic acinar cells [3]. In mucosal immunology, it serves as a functional molecule specific for antigen-sampling cells in intestinal Peyer's patches, being involved in detecting pathological bacteria and identifying M cell lineage and their differentiation in lymphoid tissues [3,4].

In the context of pancreatic research, GP2-enriched pancreatic progenitors can give rise to all pancreatic cells in vivo, including functional beta-like cells, and eliminate the risk of teratomas, establishing GP2 sorting as an effective method for pancreatic progenitor purification and safe pancreatic differentiation [1]. Also, a novel PP differentiation platform based on compound screening can increase Glycoprotein-2 expression and trilineage potential, with GP2 expression levels at the PP stage ascribing varying pancreatic lineage potential [2].

In summary, Gp2 plays crucial roles in mucosal immunity and pancreatic cell differentiation. In mucosal tissues, it aids in pathogen detection and M-cell related processes. In pancreatic research, GP2-related studies offer insights into pancreatic cell development and potential treatment for diabetes-related conditions by ensuring safe pancreatic progenitor differentiation [1,2,3,4].

References:

1. Aghazadeh, Yasaman, Sarangi, Farida, Poon, Frankie, Nunes, Sara S, Nostro, M Cristina. 2022. GP2-enriched pancreatic progenitors give rise to functional beta cells in vivo and eliminate the risk of teratoma formation. In Stem cell reports, 17, 964-978. doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.03.004. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35364010/

2. Merz, Sarah, Breunig, Markus, Melzer, Michael Karl, Hohwieler, Meike, Kleger, Alexander. 2023. Single-cell profiling of GP2-enriched pancreatic progenitors to simultaneously create acinar, ductal, and endocrine organoids. In Theranostics, 13, 1949-1973. doi:10.7150/thno.78323. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37064874/

3. Iwanaga, Toshihiko, Kimura, Shunsuke. . GP2-expressing cells: a new guardian with divergent functions in the intestine, eyes, and nose. In Biomedical research (Tokyo, Japan), 44, 233-243. doi:10.2220/biomedres.44.233. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38008422/

4. Ohno, Hiroshi, Hase, Koji. . Glycoprotein 2 (GP2): grabbing the FimH bacteria into M cells for mucosal immunity. In Gut microbes, 1, 407-10. doi:10.4161/gmic.1.6.14078. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21468225/