Isthmus progenitor cells contribute to homeostatic cellular turnover and support regeneration following intestinal injury.

ABSTRACT: The currently accepted intestinal epithelial cell organization model proposes that Lgr5⁺ crypt-base columnar (CBC) cells represent the sole intestinal stem cell (ISC) compartment. However, previous studies have indicated that Lgr5⁺ cells are dispensable for intestinal regeneration, leading to two major hypotheses: one favoring the presence of a quiescent reserve ISC and the other calling for differentiated cell plasticity. To investigate these possibilities, we studied crypt epithelial cells in an unbiased fashion via high-resolution single-cell profiling. These studies, combined with in vivo lineage tracing, show that Lgr5 is not a specific ISC marker and that stemness potential exists beyond the crypt base and resides in the isthmus region, where undifferentiated ce

SUBMITTER: Malagola E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11164536 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature