Cryptic Models

Our intestines process around 50 tonnes of food and drink in a lifetime. It’s no wonder cells lining the intestines need frequent replacement. This is the job of stem cells found within intestinal crypts. A healthy gut reproduces its crypts through a process called crypt fission. When this goes awry abnormal growths, such as adenomas, occur. To better understand disease, we first need a handle on normal crypt fission. Researchers therefore investigated the roles of two major crypt cells – Paneth and stem cells – in lab-grown intestinal organoids. Growing organoids with different chemicals allowed the number of either Paneth cells or stem cells to be increased. Compared to a control organoid (left), more Paneth cells produced shorter, rounder crypts (right), while more stem cells produced longer crypts (middle). The relative position of these cells was also found to be key to kickstarting fission.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Lux Fatimathas

Writer

Having pursued science through a career in research, communications and publishing, she is currently a writer and editor for a healthcare marketing agency and also juggles freelance science writing.

• Image from work by Alistair Langlands and colleagues
• Cell and Developmental Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, UK
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS Biology, June 2016