Table of genes implicated in development and differentiation of the intestinal epithelium [1]
The table listed below is a running comprehensive list of all intestinal differential genes that have been reported in the literature. The PMID is the pubmed identification number of the papers that support the summarized information in the table corresponding to each row.
Official | Common | Function/phenotype | PMID |
---|---|---|---|
APC | Conditional deletion promotes Paneth cell differentiation at the expense of enterocyte, goblet and enteroendocrine cell differentiation. Negative regulator of beta-catenin | 15716339 [2] | |
ATOH1 | Math1, HATH1 | Commitment to secretory lineage | 20691176 [3] 17570220 [4] 11739954 [5] |
BLIMP1 | PRDM1 | Postnatal epithelial maturation; suckling/weaning transition | 21878906 [6] 21670299 [7] |
BMPR1A | Involved in terminal differentiation of secretory cells | 17678919 [8] | |
CBFA2T2 | Mtgr1 | Required for maintenance of secretory lineage | 16227606 [9] |
CDH1 | E-cadherin | Required for maturation/localization of Paneth and goblet cells | 21179475 [10] |
CDX1 | Cdx1 | Induced expression promoted enterocyte differentiation in IEC6 cells | 19059241 [11] 10579974 [12] |
CDX2 | Cdx2 | Involves in epithelial cell maturation as well as goblet and Paneth cell differentiation. Required for the small intestinal identity during development. In IEC-6 cells, conditional expression induced enterocyte and goblet like cells | 21081128 [13] 19386267 [14] 8552090 [15] |
CTNNB1 | Catenin, beta | Paneth cell differentiation. Essential for stem cell/crypt maintenance. Villus and crypt morphogenesis with Tcf3 via c-Myc | 18948094 [16] 17785439 [17] 17681174 [18] |
DLL1 | Functions as a cis acting element and required for goblet cell differentiation in the Notch inactive colonic epithelia. Notch ligand in intestine. Required for the maintenance of stem and progenitors | 20170633 [19] 21238454 [20] | |
DLL4 | Notch ligand in intestine. Required for the maintenance of stem and progenitors | 21238454 [20] | |
ELF3 | ESE-1 | Terminal differentiation of absorptive enterocytes | 19801644 [21] |
EPHB3 | Localization of Paneth cells to crypt base | 12408869 [22] | |
FGF7 | KGF | Regulate epithelial growth and promote differentiation | 19326389 [23] |
FGFR3 | Paneth cell specification through beta-catenin/Tcf4 dependent and independent pathway. Significant reduction in Paneth cell in knockout mice. Involved in crypt development and stem cell expansion | 19407216 [24] | |
FOXA1 | HNF3A | Involved in goblet cell differentiation and enteroendocrine differentiation | 19737569 [25] |
FOXA2 | HNF3B | Involved in goblet cell differentiation and enteroendocrine differentiation | 19737569 [25] |
FZD5 | Required for Paneth cell maturation. Loss of Paneth cell genes after conditional deletion | 15778706 [26] | |
GADD45GIP1 | Crif1 | Essential Elf3 coactivator in differentiation of absorptive enterocytes | 19801644 [21] |
GATA6 | Regulates proximal-distal identity in the intestines | 21262227 [27] | |
GATA4 | Required for proximal intestinal identity | 16940177 [28] 18812176 [29] | |
GFI1 | Required for proper allocation of secretory lineage | 16230531 [30] | |
HES1 | Hes1 | Commitment to absorptive lineage | 10615124 [31] |
HNF1A | HNF1-α | Regulates terminal differentiation of enterocytes and secretory cells potentially by direct regulation of Atoh1 | 20133952 [32] 20388655 [33] |
HNF1B | HNF1-β | Regulates terminal differentiation of enterocytes and secretory cells potentially by direct regulation of Atoh1 | 20133952 [32] 20388655 [33] |
IHH | Colonocytes differentiation | 14770182 [34] | |
KLF4 | GKLF | Promotes goblet cell differentiation in colon | 21070761 [35] 12015290 [36] |
LGR4 | GPR48 | Promotes Paneth cell differentiation and crypt cell proliferation. Along with LGR5, acts as the receptor for R-Spondin, a WNT co-ligand that amplifies WNT signaling | 21508962 [37] 21909076 [38] |
LGR5 | GPR49 | Premature paneth cell differentiation in fetal intestine. Intestinal stem cell marker. Along with LGR4, acts as the receptor for R-Spondin, a WNT co-ligand that amplifies WNT signaling | 19394326 [39] 21727895 [40] |
MMP9 | Negatively regulates terminal differentiation of goblet cells in colon | 17484881 [41] | |
MSI1 | Suppress paneth cell differentiation independent of Notch and Wnt signaling pathways | 19214660 [42] | |
MYBL2 | Regulates commitment of colon stem cells to differentiate | 20857481; [43] 20133952 [44] | |
MYC | Crypt loss upon conditional deletion in the adult | 16954380 [45] | |
NEUROD1 | BETA2 | Differentiation of Ngn3 enteroendocrine cells into CCK and secretin cells | 18022152; [46] 15044355 [47] |
NEUROG3 | NGN3, ATOH5 | Commitment to the enteroendocrine cell lineage | 17706959; [48] 12456641 [49] |
NKX2-2 | Nkx2.2 | Required for a subset of enteroendocrine cells differentiation | 18022152 [46] |
NOTCH1 | Regulates absorptive cells vs secretory cells | 15959516; [50] 18274550 [51] | |
NOTCH2 | Regulates absorptive cells vs secretory cells | 15959516; [50] 18274550 [51] | |
NOX1 | Regulate ROS to activate Notch signaling and indirectly promote absorptive cell lineage in the colon | 20351171 [52] | |
PAX6 | Differentiation of GIP in enteroendocrine lineage | 18022152; [46] 10478839 [53] | |
PDX1 | IPF1 | Overexpression causes differentiation of immature intestinal epithelia to enteroendocrine cells. Conditional deletion alters enterocyte and enteroendocrine gene expression | 11408276; [54] 19808654 [55] |
PPARD | PPAR-δ/β | Involves in Paneth cell maturation by modulating IHH expression | 16890607 [56] |
PTK6 | BRK | Promote cell cycle exit in Wnt independent pathway and promote enterocyte differentiation | 16782882 [57] |
RB1 | pRB | Required for enterocyte terminal differentiation in small intestine | 18981186 [58] |
RBPJ | CBF1 | Conversion of progenitors and differentiated cells into goblet cells by conditional deletion | 15959515 [59] |
REG4 | Marker for enteroendocrine cells |
| |
SOX9 | Required for paneth cell differentiation | 17698607; [61] 17681175 [62] | |
SPDEF | PDEF | Regulates terminal differentiation of goblet cells and Paneth cells | 19786015; [63] 19549527 [64] |
STK11 | LKB1 | Required for normal differentiation of goblet and Paneth cells | 19165340 [65] |
TGFBR2 | Tgf-βRII | The critical downstream target of Elf3 for enterocyte differentiation | 17408644 [66] |
VAV | Required for enterocyte differentiation in mouse cecum and colon | 19139088 [67] | |
Barrett's esophagus is a condition in which there is an abnormal (metaplastic) change in the mucosal cells lining the lower portion of the esophagus, from stratified squamous epithelium to simple columnar epithelium with interspersed goblet cells that are normally present only in the small intestine and large intestine. This change is considered to be a premalignant condition because it is associated with a high incidence of further transition to esophageal adenocarcinoma, an often-deadly cancer.
Peyer's patches are organized lymphoid follicles, named after the 17th-century Swiss anatomist Johann Conrad Peyer. They are an important part of gut associated lymphoid tissue usually found in humans in the lowest portion of the small intestine, mainly in the distal jejunum and the ileum, but also could be detected in the duodenum.
Goblet cells are simple columnar epithelial cells that secrete gel-forming mucins, like mucin 5AC. The goblet cells mainly use the merocrine method of secretion, secreting vesicles into a duct, but may use apocrine methods, budding off their secretions, when under stress. The term goblet refers to the cell's goblet-like shape. The apical portion is shaped like a cup, as it is distended by abundant mucus laden granules; its basal portion lacks these granules and is shaped like a stem.
Caco-2 is an immortalized cell line of human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. It is primarily used as a model of the intestinal epithelial barrier. In culture, Caco-2 cells spontaneously differentiate into a heterogeneous mixture of intestinal epithelial cells. It was developed in 1977 by Jorgen Fogh at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research.
Paneth cells are cells in the small intestine epithelium, alongside goblet cells, enterocytes, and enteroendocrine cells. Some can also be found in the cecum and appendix. They are located below the intestinal stem cells in the intestinal glands and the large eosinophilic refractile granules that occupy most of their cytoplasm.
In histology, an intestinal gland is a gland found in between villi in the intestinal epithelium lining of the small intestine and large intestine. The glands and intestinal villi are covered by epithelium, which contains multiple types of cells: enterocytes, goblet cells, enteroendocrine cells, cup cells, tuft cells, and at the base of the gland, Paneth cells and stem cells.
Microfold cells are found in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) of the Peyer's patches in the small intestine, and in the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) of other parts of the gastrointestinal tract. These cells are known to initiate mucosal immunity responses on the apical membrane of the M cells and allow for transport of microbes and particles across the epithelial cell layer from the gut lumen to the lamina propria where interactions with immune cells can take place.
Homeobox protein CDX-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CDX2 gene. The CDX2 protein is a homeobox transcription factor expressed in the nuclei of intestinal epithelial cells, playing an essential role in the development and function of the digestive system. CDX2 part of the ParaHox gene cluster, a group of three highly conserved developmental genes present in most vertebrate species. Together with CDX1 and CDX4, CDX2 is one of three caudal-related genes in the human genome.
Kruppel-like factor 4 is a member of the KLF family of zinc finger transcription factors, which belongs to the relatively large family of SP1-like transcription factors. KLF4 is involved in the regulation of proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and somatic cell reprogramming. Evidence also suggests that KLF4 is a tumor suppressor in certain cancers, including colorectal cancer. It has three C2H2-zinc fingers at its carboxyl terminus that are closely related to another KLF, KLF2. It has two nuclear localization sequences that signals it to localize to the nucleus. In embryonic stem cells (ESCs), KLF4 has been demonstrated to be a good indicator of stem-like capacity. It is suggested that the same is true in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).
Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptor 5 (LGR5) also known as G-protein coupled receptor 49 (GPR49) or G-protein coupled receptor 67 (GPR67) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the LGR5 gene. It is a member of GPCR class A receptor proteins. R-spondin proteins are the biological ligands of LGR5. LGR5 is expressed across a diverse range of tissue such as in the muscle, placenta, spinal cord and brain and particularly as a biomarker of adult stem cells in certain tissues.
Trefoil factor 3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TFF3 gene.
Protein atonal homolog 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ATOH1 gene.
The intestinal epithelium is the single cell layer that form the luminal surface (lining) of both the small and large intestine (colon) of the gastrointestinal tract. Composed of simple columnar epithelial cells, it serves two main functions: absorbing useful substances into the body and restricting the entry of harmful substances. As part of its protective role, the intestinal epithelium forms an important component of the intestinal mucosal barrier. Certain diseases and conditions are caused by functional defects in the intestinal epithelium. On the other hand, various diseases and conditions can lead to its dysfunction which, in turn, can lead to further complications.
Congenital tufting enteropathy is an inherited disorder of the small intestine that presents with intractable diarrhea in young children.
Tetratricopeptide repeat domain 7A (TTC7A) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TTC7A gene.
Tuft cells are chemosensory cells in the epithelial lining of the intestines. Similar tufted cells are found in the respiratory epithelium where they are known as brush cells. The name "tuft" refers to the brush-like microvilli projecting from the cells. Ordinarily there are very few tuft cells present but they have been shown to greatly increase at times of a parasitic infection. Several studies have proposed a role for tuft cells in defense against parasitic infection. In the intestine, tuft cells are the sole source of secreted interleukin 25 (IL-25).
The intestinal mucosal barrier, also referred to as intestinal barrier, refers to the property of the intestinal mucosa that ensures adequate containment of undesirable luminal contents within the intestine while preserving the ability to absorb nutrients. The separation it provides between the body and the gut prevents the uncontrolled translocation of luminal contents into the body proper. Its role in protecting the mucosal tissues and circulatory system from exposure to pro-inflammatory molecules, such as microorganisms, toxins, and antigens is vital for the maintenance of health and well-being. Intestinal mucosal barrier dysfunction has been implicated in numerous health conditions such as: food allergies, microbial infections, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, diabetes, and septic shock.
hPG80 refers to the extracellular and oncogenic version of progastrin. This name first appeared in a scientific publication in January 2020. Until that date, scientific publications only mention 'progastrin', without necessarily explicitly specifying whether it is intracellular or extracellular in the tumor pathological setting.
Intestines-on-a-chip are microfluidic bioengineered 3D-models of the real organ, which better mimic physiological features than conventional 3D intestinal organoid culture. A variety of different intestine-on-a-chip models systems have been developed and refined, all holding their individual strengths and weaknesses and collectively holding great promise to the ultimate goal of establishing these systems as reliable high-throughput platforms for drug testing and personalised medicine. The intestine is a highly complex organ system performing a diverse set of vital tasks, from nutrient digestion and absorption, hormone secretion, and immunological processes to neuronal activity, which makes it particularly challenging to model in vitro.