Retracted: Lgr5 positive stem cells sorted from small intestines of diabetic mice differentiate into higher proportion of absorptive cells and Paneth cells in vitro

Intestinal epithelial stem cells ( IESC s) can differentiate into all types of intestinal epithelial cells ( IEC s) and Leucine‐rich repeat‐containing G protein‐coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5) is a marker for IESC . Previous studies reported enhanced proliferation of IEC s in diabetic mice. In this study, the in vitro differentiation of Lgr5 positive IESC s sorted from diabetic mice was further investigated. The diabetic mouse model was induced by streptozotocin ( STZ ), and crypt IEC s were isolated from small intestines. Subsequently, Lgr5 positive IESC s were detected by flow cytometry ( FCM ) and sorted by magnetic activated cell sorting ( MACS ). Differentiation of the sorted IESC s was investigated by detecting the IEC markers in the diabetic mice using immunostaining, quantitative real‐time reverse–transcription polymerase chain reaction ( qRT – PCR ), and Western blot analysis, which was compared with normal mice. We found that the proportion of Lgr5 positive cells in the crypt IEC s of diabetic mice was higher than that of control mice ( P  <   0.05). Lgr5 positive IESC s could be significantly enriched in Lgr5 positive cell fraction sorted by MACS . Furthermore, the absorptive cell marker sucrase‐isomaltase ( SI ) and the Paneth cell marker lysozyme 1 (Lyz1) were more highly expressed in the differentiated cells derived from Lgr5 positive IESC s of diabetic mice in vitro ( P  <   0.05). We demonstrate that the number of Lgr5 positive IESC s is significantly increased in the small intestines of STZ ‐induced diabetic mice. Lgr5 positive IESC s sorted from the diabetic mice can differentiate into a higher proportion of absorptive cells and Paneth cells in vitro . We characterized the expression of Lgr5 in the small intestine of diabetic mice, and sorted Lgr5 positive intestinal epithelial stem cells ( IESC s) for investigating their differentiation in vitro . We proved that the quantity of Lgr5 positive IESC s was significantly increased in the small intestines of diabetic mice. IESC s sorted from the diabetic mice can differentiate into a higher proportion of absorptive cells and Paneth cells in vitro .