Oesophagus. Widespread self-renewal capacity of human oesophageal epithelial cells.

摘要

Human oesophageal epithelial cells have a remarkable capacity for self-renewal that is not restricted to a specific cell compartment, according to recent findings published in Gut.The human oesophagus is a multistratified squamous epithelium. Traditionally, it has been thought that a distinct set of stem cells is responsible for tissue maintenance, as in other organs of the gastrointestinal tract. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying cellular homeostasis in the oesophagus. Moreover, studies in mice have failed to demonstrate the presence of a distinct cell set with clonogenic potential.Rebecca Fitzgerald, corresponding author of the study in Gut, and her group have long had an interest in oesophageal carcinogenesis. They joined forces with Phil Jones' group (also based at the Medical Research Council Cancer Unit, Cambridge, UK), who have performed seminal work investigating epithelial self-renewal in normal tissues. "We wanted to shed some light on some fundamental questions, namely: how is the epithelium of the human oesophagus maintained, which cells are responsible for its self-renewal, and is the maintenance of this tissue governed by specific, identifiable stem cells?" explains Fitzgerald.