Morphological differentiation of the intestinal epithelium in the laboratory rat occurs between the 16th and 21st day of prenatal development. The pseudostratified epithelium is rebuilt into simple epithelium of the future lining. A characteristic sign of this rebuilding is formation of primitive folds, villi and intraepithelial vacuoles corresponding in submicroscopic picture with a secondary ...

The presence of glandular epithelium in urinary tract biopsies poses a diagnostic challenge. Intestinal metaplasia of the urethra may be seen in many congenital, iatrogenic, and reactive conditions, as well as in association with malignant conditions such as urethral adenocarcinoma. We present a case of a 61 year-old woman presenting with microscopic hematuria. Successive biopsies showed glandu...

Recently intestinal disaccharidase deficiency has been identified as one cause of carbohydrate intolerance (Durand, 1958; Auricchio et al., 1963; Kern et al., 1963 ; Dahlqvist, 1964; McMichael et al., 1965; Sheehy and Anderson, 1965). The disaccharidases are produced and act within the cells of the intestinal epithelium (Miller and Crane, 1961). Enzyme deficiencies may be found singly or combin...

The cells of the intestinal epithelium provide a selectively permeable barrier between the external environment and internal tissues. The integrity of this barrier is maintained by tight junctions, specialised cell-cell contacts that permit the absorption of water and nutrients while excluding microbes, toxins and dietary antigens. Impairment of intestinal barrier function contributes to multip...

The mammalian genome encodes seven guanylyl cyclases, GC-A to GC-G, that are homodimeric transmembrane receptors activated by a diverse range of endogenous ligands. These enzymes convert guanosine-5'-triphosphate the intracellular second messenger cyclic guanosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic GMP). GC-A, GC-B and GC-C expressed predominantly in cardiovascular system, skeletal system intestinal e...

Intestinal functions are central to human physiology, health and disease. Options to study these functions with direct relevance to the human condition remain severely limited when using conventional cell cultures, microfluidic systems, organoids, animal surrogates or human studies. To replicate in vitro the tissue architecture and microenvironments of native intestine, we developed a 3D porous...

Current protocols for separating adult intestinal epithelial cells from the underlying muscular and mesenchymal tissues typically involve extended incubations, harsh mechanical treatment, and exposure to either proteases or chelating agents. The drawbacks of these approaches include fragmentation, contamination with other cell types, reduced viability, and under-representation of crypt cells. H...

After ingestion via contaminated food or water, enterohaemorrhagic E. coli colonises the intestinal mucosa and produces Shiga toxins (Stx). No Stx-specific secretion system has been described so far, and it is assumed that Stx are released into the gut lumen after bacterial lysis. Human intestinal epithelium does not express the Stx receptor Gb3 or other Stx binding sites, and it remains unknow...

Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) form a physiochemical barrier that separates the intestinal lumen from the host's internal milieu and is critical for electrolyte passage, nutrient absorption, and interaction with commensal microbiota. Moreover, IECs are strongly involved in the intestinal mucosal inflammatory response as well as in mucosal innate and adaptive immune responses. Cell death in ...

Gfi1 is a transcriptional repressor involved in directing differentiation of secretory precursors into goblet and paneth cells in the intestinal epithelium. Gfi 1 is downstream of the Notch signaling pathway, responsible in regulating expression of counter transcription factors Atoh 1 (secretory) and Hes 1, (absorptive). Recent reports describe Notch activity in gastric epithelium, but there ar...