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Biology of the adult enteric neural stem cell
Author(s) -
EstradaMondaca Sandino,
CarreónRodríguez Alfonso,
BelkindGerson Jaime
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
developmental dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.634
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1097-0177
pISSN - 1058-8388
DOI - 10.1002/dvdy.20954
Subject(s) - biology , enteric nervous system , stem cell , irritable bowel syndrome , neural stem cell , disease , adult stem cell , in vitro , immunology , cellular differentiation , neuroscience , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , gene , genetics
An increasing body of evidence has accumulated in recent years supporting the existence of neural stem cells in the adult gut. There are at least three groups that have obtained them using different methodologies and have described them in vitro. There is a growing amount of knowledge on their biology, but many questions are yet unanswered. Among these questions is whether these cells are part of a permanent undifferentiated pool or are recruited in a regular basis; in addition, the factors and genes involved in their survival, proliferation, migration, and differentiation are largely unknown. Finally, with between 10 and 20% of adults suffering from diseases involving the enteric nervous system, most notably irritable bowel syndrome and gastroesophageal reflux, what is the possible role of enteric nervous stem cells in health and disease? Developmental Dynamics 236:20–32, 2007. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.