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Stem cells

The intestinal stem cell niche flexes its muscles

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 24, page 309 (2023)Cite this article

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The mammalian intestinal epithelium is constantly renewed and repaired by differentiation of intestinal stem cells (ISCs), which reside in a niche at the base of intestinal crypts and are controlled by signals from the surrounding tissue including Wnt–R-spondin and BMP. How different cell types that surround the niche contribute to its establishment and maintenance are unclear. McCarthy et al. now describe how distinct populations of smooth muscle cells contribute to niche establishment and expansion during postnatal development.

Single-cell RNA sequencing of postnatal mice revealed distinct sub-cryptal populations of smooth muscle cells that express R-spondin and different BMP inhibitors to promote the expansion of the niche in the first few weeks after birth. These layers include the muscularis propria and muscularis mucosae, and partial ablation of these cell populations attenuated crypt fission as BMP signalling was left unopposed.

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  • Beumer, J. et al. Cell fate specification and differentiation in the adult mammalian intestine. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 22, 39–53 (2021)

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  1. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology http://www.nature.com/nrm/

    Lisa Heinke

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  1. Lisa Heinke
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Correspondence to Lisa Heinke.

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Heinke, L. The intestinal stem cell niche flexes its muscles. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 24, 309 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-023-00605-y

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