Gut Microbial Influences on the Mammalian Intestinal Stem Cell Niche

Figure 1

The intestinal stem cell niche. Intestinal stem cells have the capacity to generate, via a population of progenitor cells, all differentiated cell types of the intestinal epithelium including enterocytes, goblet cells, Paneth cells, and enteroendocrine cells. Those cell types that are known or suspected to comprise the intestinal stem cell niche include the adjoining Paneth cells of the small bowel, or the deep crypt secretory cells of the colon, as well as myofibroblasts, dendritic cells, macrophages, muscle cells, and enteric glia and neurons found in the subepithelial lamina propria and submucosal compartments of both small and large intestine.