Fibroblasts modulate epithelial cell behavior within the proliferative niche and differentiated cell zone within a human colonic crypt model.

ABSTRACT: Colonic epithelium is situated above a layer of fibroblasts that provide supportive factors for stem cells at the crypt base and promote differentiation of cells in the upper crypt and luminal surface. To study the fibroblast-epithelial cell interactions, an in vitro crypt model was formed on a shaped collagen scaffold with primary epithelial cells growing above a layer of primary colonic fibroblasts. The crypts possessed a basal stem cell niche populated with proliferative cells and a differentiated, nondividing cell zone at the luminal crypt end. The presence of fibroblasts enhanced cell differentiation and accelerated the rate at which a high resistance epithelial cell layer formed relative to cultures without fibroblasts. The fibroblasts modulated cell proliferation within crypt

SUBMITTER: Massaro A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11683563 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature