Interactions between laminin and epithelial cells in intestinal health and disease

Laminins are a multigene family of extracellular matrix molecules. Quantitatively, they are one of the most abundant glycoproteins present in basement membranes. Functionally, they can modulate several key biological activities, including cell adhesion and migration, gene expression and cell survival. Variability in the spatial and temporal expression of laminins, as well as of their specific receptors of the integrin family, in various tissues and organs, suggests that different laminins perform distinct functions. This article focuses on the human intestinal epithelium as a paradigm to illustrate the potential relationship between laminin-cell interactions and the cell state. This rapidly renewing epithelium consists of spatially separated proliferative and differentiated cell populations located in the crypts and on the villi, respectively. Differential distributions of the various laminins and laminin-binding integrins have been observed along the crypt-villus axis in both the developing and the adult intestine, and important alterations in the pattern of laminin expression have been reported in various intestinal pathologies, such as tufting enteropathy, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and colorectal cancer. More-direct approaches, including experimentation with in vitro and in vivo models, have provided evidence in support of a role for laminins in intestinal cell functions. Although further work is still needed, laminins emerge more and more as key regulators of specific cell functions important in both intestinal health and intestinal disease.