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Updated: Mar 14, 2026
Breast Milk Enhances Growth of Enteroids: An Ex Vivo Model of Cell Proliferation
Published on: February 15, 2018
Porcine milk-derived exosomes promote proliferation of intestinal epithelial cells
Ting Chen1, Mei-Ying Xie1, Jia-Jie Sun1
1National Engineering Research Center For Breeding Swine Industry, Guandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, South China Agricultural University, 483 Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510642, China.
Insights
Porcine milk-derived exosomes promote intestinal cell proliferation and development in neonates. These exosomes enhance intestinal tissue growth and expression of key developmental genes, offering new insights into milk nutrition for newborns.
Area of Science:
- Exosome biology
- Neonatal development
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- Milk-derived exosomes are novel carriers of regulatory molecules.
- Their role in neonatal intestinal development is not well understood.
- This study investigates porcine milk-derived exosomes in the intestinal tract.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the functions of porcine milk-derived exosomes in neonatal intestinal tissues.
- To investigate their effects on intestinal cell proliferation and development.
- To identify molecular mechanisms involved in these processes.
Main Methods:
- In vitro studies using IPEC-J2 cells treated with milk-derived exosomes.
- In vivo studies using mouse models treated with milk-derived exosomes.
- Assays included MTT, CCK8, EdU, qRT-PCR, and Western blot.
Main Results:
- Milk-derived exosomes significantly promoted IPEC-J2 cell proliferation.
- Exosomes increased expression of CDX2, IGF-1R, and PCNA, while inhibiting p53.
- In vivo, exosomes enhanced intestinal villus height, crypt depth, and gene expression.
Conclusions:
- Porcine milk-derived exosomes facilitate intestinal cell proliferation and intestinal tract development.
- They represent a promising nutritional component for newborn development and health.
- This research provides new insights into the role of milk exosomes in neonatal gut health.
Abstract:
Milk-derived exosomes were identified as a novel mechanism of mother-to-child transmission of regulatory molecules, but their functions in intestinal tissues of neonates are not well-studied. Here, we characterized potential roles of porcine milk-derived exosomes in the intestinal tract. In vitro, treatment with milk-derived exosomes (27 ± 3 ng and 55 ± 5 ng total RNA) significantly promoted IPEC-J2 cell proliferation by MTT, CCK8, EdU fluorescence and EdU flow cytometry assays. The qRT-PCR and Western blot analyses indicated milk-derived exosomes (0.27 ± 0.03 μg total RNA) significantly promoted expression of CDX2, IGF-1R and PCNA, and inhibited p53 gene expression involved in intestinal proliferation. Additionally, six detected miRNAs were significantly increased in IPEC-J2 cell, while FAS and SERPINE were significantly down-regulated relative to that in control. In vivo, treated groups (0.125 μg and 0.25 μg total RNA) significantly raised mice' villus height, crypt depth and ratio of villus length to crypt depth of intestinal tissues, significantly increased CDX2, PCNA and IGF-1R' expression and significantly inhibited p53' expression. Our study demonstrated that milk-derived exosomes can facilitate intestinal cell proliferation and intestinal tract development, thus giving a new insight for milk nutrition and newborn development and health.
