Lgr5

[American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology] Direct exposure of colonic epithelial organoids to dextran sulfate sodium, oxazolone, or TNBS resulted in increased apoptosis and loss of Lgr5+ cells. Targeted ablation of Lgr5+ cells resulted in severe exacerbation of chronic, antibody-induced IL-10-deficient colitis, but had only modest effects in TNBS-induced colitis.

[Journal of Pathology] Using single cell RNA-sequencing, investigators identified and validated the in situ localization of three smooth muscle subtypes and two novel fibroblast subtypes in human prostate.

[Cell Stem Cell] Researchers showed that restricted chromatin accessibility in intestinal stem cells prevented the expression of β-Catenin-regulated metabolic enzymes, whereas fine-tuning of WNT/β-Catenin activity by ZNRF3 and RNF43 restricted proliferation in chromatin-permissive AXIN2+ hepatocytes, while preserving metabolic function.

[Journal of Molecular Medicine] Researchers employed a doxycycline-inducible phosphatase of regenerating liver-3 (PRL-3) mouse strain to show that aberrant PRL-3 expression within a non-cancerous background led to the death of Lgr5+ intestinal stem cells and to Paneth cell expansion.

[Nature Communications] The proximal colonic tumors that developed in a mouse model of right-sided colon cancer exhibited a fetal-like progenitor phenotype (Ly6a/Sca1+) and lacked expression of Lgr5 and its associated intestinal stem cell signature.

[Oncogene] Scientists demonstrated that αSMA+ cancer-associated fibroblast in colorectal cancer (CRC) exert tumor-restraining functions via BMP4/TGFβ1 paracrine signaling that served to suppress Lgr5+ CSCs and promoted anti-tumor immunity, ultimately limiting CRC progression.