Parasitic helminths induce fetal-like reversion in the intestinal stem cell niche.

ABSTRACT: Epithelial surfaces form critical barriers to the outside world and are continuously renewed by adult stem cells¹. Whereas dynamics of epithelial stem cells during homeostasis are increasingly well understood, how stem cells are redirected from a tissue-maintenance program to initiate repair after injury remains unclear. Here we examined infection by Heligmosomoides polygyrus, a co-evolved pathosymbiont of mice, to assess the epithelial response to disruption of the mucosal barrier. H. polygyrus disrupts tissue integrity by penetrating the duodenal mucosa, where it develops while surrounded by a multicellular granulomatous infiltrate². Crypts overlying larvae-associated granulomas did not express intestinal stem cell markers, including Lgr5³, in spite of co

SUBMITTER: Nusse YM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6042247 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature