title: If a stem cell dies in the crypt, and no one is around to see it….
abstract: Two recent studies continue the debate regarding lineage and hierarchy in the intestinal epithelium. One reports that quiescent crypt cells are Paneth cell precursors (Buczacki et al., 2013). The second shows that tamoxifen induces apoptosis in crypt cells and that suppressing apoptosis alters lineage tracing patterns (Zhu et al., 2013).
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, Program in Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Ysbrand M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Nusse
authors.forename: Ophir D
authors.initials: OD
authors.lastname: Klein