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Published on: July 25, 2016
Glutamine boosts intestinal stem cell-mediated small intestinal epithelial development during early weaning:
Junquan Tian1, Yuying Li2, Xuetai Bao2
1National Engineering Laboratory for Pollution Control and Waste Utilization in Livestock and Poultry Production, Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Laboratory of Animal Nutritional Physiology and Metabolic Process, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, Hunan 410125, China; College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan 410000, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100008, China.
Abstract:
Early weaning usually causes small intestine epithelial development abnormality, increasing the risk of gastrointestinal diseases. Glutamine (Gln), enriching in plasma and milk, is widely reported to benefit intestinal health. However, whether Gln affects intestinal stem cell (ISC) activity in response to early weaning is unclear. Here, both the early weaning mice and intestinal organoids were used to study the role of Gln in regulating ISC activities. Results showed that Gln ameliorated early weaning-induced epithelial atrophy and augmented the ISC-mediated epithelial regeneration. Gln deprivation disabled ISC-mediated epithelial regeneration and crypt fission in vitro. Mechanistically, Gln augmented WNT signaling in a dose-dependent manner to regulate ISC activity, while WNT signaling blockage abolished the effects of Gln on ISCs. Together, Gln accelerates stem cell-mediated intestinal epithelial development associated with the augmentation of WNT signaling, which provides novel insights into the mechanism by which Gln promotes intestinal health.
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