Featured Review Cellscience Reviews Vol 4 No 1 ISSN 1742-8130

The determination of multipotent intestinal stem cell fate

Intestinal epithelial cells undergo rapid and continuous cell renewal throughout life. This self-renewal is maintained by a group of multipotent stem cells located at the base of intestinal crypts. The intestinal stem cells give rise to progenitor cells which then differentiate into different cell lineages and migrate up along intestinal villi. The molecular genetics underlying the differentiation of intestinal stem cells are still poorly understood. Yet, recent studies have identified several critical signaling pathways that influence intestinal stem cell renewal and differentiation. Here we provide a review of intestinal stem cells including stem cell markers and the stem cell niche, as well as several signaling pathways including Wnt, BMP, Notch, hedgehog and PTEN, which are implicated in the determination of intestinal stem cell fate. Additionally, we discuss how deregulation of these pathways contributes to colon cancer pathogenesis.

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