Progastrin production transitions from Bmi1⁺/Prox1⁺ to Lgr5^high cells during early intestinal tumorigenesis.

ABSTRACT: Progastrin is an unprocessed soluble peptide precursor with a well-described tumor-promoting role in colorectal cancer. It is expressed at small levels in the healthy intestinal mucosa, and its expression is enhanced at early stages of intestinal tumor development, with high levels of this peptide in hyperplastic intestinal polyps being associated with poor neoplasm-free survival in patients. Yet, the precise type of progastrin-producing cells in the healthy intestinal mucosa and in early adenomas remains unclear. Here, we used a combination of immunostaining, RNAscope labelling and retrospective analysis of single cell RNAseq results to demonstrate that progastrin is produced within intestinal crypts by a subset of Bmi1⁺/Prox1⁺/LGR5^low endocrine cells, pre

SUBMITTER: Giraud J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7772574 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature