Intestinal stem cells: From homeostasis to cancer

Abstract

The gastrointestinal epithelium is a highly organised tissue that is constantly renewed. For this reason, it is one of the most rapidly proliferating organs in the body. A complete turnover of the epithelium occurs every 3–5 days in the mouse, a process that is maintained by a small population of intestinal stem cells (ISCs) that reside in the crypt bases. In order to maintain homeostasis, the balance between intestinal stem cell (ISC) renewal and differentiation must be carefully monitored. In this review, we first summarize 50 years of research in this field starting with the work of Christopher Leblond in the late 1950s. We then debate on the precise localization of intestinal stem cells ..