Intestinal stem cells and mucosal gut development.
OBJECTIVE
In the past year, the study of intestinal stem cell biology has realized significant progress toward understanding the mechanisms and pathways regulating crypt stem cell turnover, maintenance, and differentiation.


RESULTS
This review summarizes recent investigations that have contributed significantly to the elucidation of mechanisms operative during intestinal development and in the adult intestine that regulate maintenance of the stem cell niche, cell fate and lineage allocation, and establishment and maintenance of the architectural organization of the crypt-to-villus axis.


CONCLUSIONS
The relevance of the findings discussed in this review extends beyond the field of intestinal development to encompass the study of tissue remodeling and repair and intestinal neoplasia.
Vidrich
Alda
A
Digestive Health Center of Excellence, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908.
Buzan
Jenny M
JM
Cohn
Steven M
SM