Failure to Divide

The cells that line our intestines need to be replaced every five days so that we can continue to absorb all the nutrients from our food. Intestinal stem cells are responsible for this replacement. They are found at the base of villi – the finger-like structures seen in the right-hand column in these specially stained sections of mouse gut. As the stem cells divide they slowly push new cells up, like a conveyor belt, replacing old cells with newer ones. For a healthy gut, it’s critical that this stem cell population is maintained. MLL1 is a protein that’s required for this maintenance. Without it (bottom), stem cells can’t divide as efficiently, as shown by the brown staining, which leads to a reduction in goblet cells (blue staining in the right column) which are a primary site for nutrient digestion. This quickly leads to intestinal failure.

Written by Sophie Arthur

Sophie Arthur

former Science Communications Officer MRC LMS

Formerly a stem cell biologist, Sophie has since moved into science communication working at the MRC LMS. She also writes an award winning science and education blog Soph talks science.

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• Image from work by Neha Goveas and colleagues
• Genomics, Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering, Biotechnology Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS Genetics, December 2021