Epithelial-connective tissue cross-talk is essential for regeneration of intestinal epithelium

Epithelial cells of the gastrointestine undergo a rapid cell-renewal and originate from stem cells throughout the life of the organisms. Previous studies have provided a solid body of evidence to show that the epithelial cell-renewal is under the strict control of cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions between the epithelium and the connective tissue. Especially, the microenvironment around the stem cells called "niche" is thought to play important roles in this control, and its disruption leads to diseases or disorders such as cancer in the human gastrointestine. Although understanding how the niche affects the stem cells is clinically important, its mechanisms still remain mostly unknown at the molecular level, possibly due to difficulties in the identification of the stem cells in the gastrointestine. Recent progress in cell and molecular biology is gradually beginning to shed light on some of the key signaling pathways in the cell-renewal of the intestinal epithelium, such as Wnt/T-cell factor (TCF)/beta-catenin, Notch, Sonic hedgehog (Shh)/bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathways, which are also involved in embryonic organogenesis and/or adult carcinogenesis. At present, only fragmentary information is available on their precise functions in the intestine. Nevertheless, there is a growing body of evidence that such signaling pathways have conservative functions in the intestine throughout terrestrial vertebrates, suggesting the usefulness of experimental animals to clarify molecular mechanisms regulating epithelial cell-renewal. In this article, I review some recent findings in this field, with particular focus on our studies using the Xenopus laevis intestine, where the stem cells form the mammalian-type intestinal epithelium under the control of connective tissue during metamorphosis. This Xenopus experimental system will certainly serve as a useful model for the study of the intestinal niche, whose clarification is urgently needed in regenerative medicine.