Proliferation in the developing intestine is regulated by the endosomal protein Endotubin

During postnatal intestinal development, the intestinal epithelium is highly proliferative, and this proliferation is regulated by signaling in the intervillous and crypt regions. This signaling is primarily mediated by Wnt, and requires membrane trafficking. However, the mechanisms by which membrane trafficking regulates signaling during this developmental phase are largely unknown. Endotubin (EDTB, MAMDC4) is an endosomal protein that is highly expressed in the apical endocytic complex (AEC) of villus enterocytes during fetal and postnatal development, and knockout of EDTB results in defective formation of the AEC and giant lysosome. Further, knockout of EDTB in cell lines results in decreased proliferation. However, the role of EDTB in proliferation during the development of the intestine is unknown. Using Villin-CreERT2 in EDTB^fl/fl mice, we deleted EDTB in the intestine in the early postnatal period, or in enteroids in vitro after isolation of intervillous cells. Loss of EDTB results in decreased proliferation in the developing intestinal epithelium and decreased ability to form enteroids. EDTB is present in cells that contain the stem cell markers LGR5 and OLFM4, indicating that it is expressed in the proliferative compartment. Further, using immunoblot analysis and TCF/LEF-GFP mice as a reporter of Wnt activity, we find that knockout of EDTB results in decreased Wnt signaling. Our results show that EDTB is essential for normal proliferation during the early stages of intestinal development and suggest that this effect is through modulation of Wnt signaling.