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PMID: 14871236 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Review

The gastrointestinal stem cell.

Cell proliferation ·Vol. 37 ·No. 1 ·2004-02-00 ·Pages 35-53

Brittan M, Wright NA

Abstract

The longevity of adult stem cells, and their potential for vast tissue regeneration, makes them a focal point of current research and debate, with future aspirations for the use of stem cells in the treatment of a number of human pathological conditions. Due to the rapid rate of cell turnover in the gastrointestinal tract, the stem cells of this tissue are amongst the most assiduous in the body, although they remain unidentified to this day due to their immature, undifferentiated phenotype. However, our knowledge of the mechanisms regulating gastrointestinal stem cell function is evolving, with the identification of putative cellular markers and the elucidation of signalling pathways which regulate cell behaviour in the normal and neoplastic gastrointestinal tract. This review describes the fundamental properties of the gastrointestinal stem cell including: (i) their number, location and origins, (ii) their primary function of deriving gastrointestinal cell lineages and maintaining tissue homeostasis, (iii) the acquisition of gastrointestinal cell lineages from adult stem cells of extraneous tissues and the consequences of this in a therapeutic context, and (iv) the genetic and morphological phenomena surrounding neoplastic transformation in the gastrointestinal tract.

MeSH Terms
Adult Animals Cell Lineage Cell Transformation, Neoplastic Colonic Neoplasms/pathology Digestive System/cytology Humans Stem Cells/cytology
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Brittan M
Histopathology Unit, Cancer Research UK, London, UK. mairi.brittan@cancer.org.uk
Wright N A
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Article Info
Journal
Cell proliferation
Abbr.
Cell Prolif
ISSN
0960-7722
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2184.2004.00299.x
Email
mairi.brittan@cancer.org.uk
Published
2004-02-00
Pages
35-53
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
9105195
PMCID
PMC6496456
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2184.2004.00299.x PMC Full Text View journal details
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