LGR5 and BMI1 mark intestinal stem cells in crypt base columnar cells and +4 position cells, respectively, but characterization of functional markers in these cell populations is limited. ID1 maintains the stem cell potential of embryonic, neural, and long-term repopulating hematopoietic stem cells. Here, we show in both human and mouse intestine that ID1 is expressed in cycling columnar cells,...

Babeu JP, Darsigny M, Lussier CR, Boudreau F. Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 contributes to an intestinal epithelial phenotype in vitro and plays a partial role in mouse intestinal epithelium differentiation. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 297: G124–G134, 2009. First published April 23, 2009; doi:10.1152/ajpgi.90690.2008.—Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 (HNF4 ) is a regulator of hepatocyte an...

The intestinal epithelium is equipped with sensing receptor mechanisms that interact with luminal microorganisms and nutrients to regulate barrier function and gut immune responses, thereby maintaining intestinal homeostasis. Herein, we clarify the role of the extracellular calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) using intestinal epithelium-specific Casr(-/-) mice. Epithelial CaSR deficiency diminished...

Intestinal organoids provide a convenient and physiologically relevant in vitro model system to study the intestinal epithelium. This 3D, multicellular culture system recapitulates the lumen and crypt-villus structure of the intestine, and incorporates all of the cell types found in the adult intestinal epithelium. Intestinal organoids make it easier than ever to get in vivo insight from in vit...

In the amphibian intestine during metamorphosis, de novo stem cells generate the adult epithelium analogous to the mammalian counterpart. Interestingly, to date the exact origin of these stem cells remains to be determined, making intestinal metamorphosis a unique model to study development of adult organ-specific stem cells. Here, to determine their origin, we made use of transgenic Xenopus ta...

Individual cell types are defined by architecturally and functionally specialized cortical domains. The Ezrin, Radixin, and Moesin (ERM) proteins play a major role in organizing cortical domains by assembling membrane protein complexes and linking them to the cortical actin cytoskeleton. Many studies have focused on the individual roles of the ERM proteins in stabilizing the membrane-cytoskelet...