Isthmus Progenitor Cells Contribute to Homeostatic Cellular Turnover and Support Regeneration Following Intestinal Injury

Scientists studied crypt epithelial cells in an unbiased fashion via high-resolution single-cell profiling. These studies, combined with in vivo lineage tracing, showed that Lgr5 was not a specific intestinal stem cell marker and that stemness potential existed beyond the crypt base and resided in the isthmus region, where undifferentiated cells participated in intestinal homeostasis and regeneration following irradiation injury.