Nick Barker talks with
ScienceWatch.com and answers a few questions
about this month's Fast Moving Front in the field of
Molecular Biology & Genetics. The author has
also sent along images of their work.
Article: Identification of stem cells in small
intestine and colon by marker gene Lgr5
Authors: Barker,
N;van Es, JH;Kuipers, J;Kujala, P;van den Born,
M;Cozijnsen, M;Haegebarth, A;Korving, J;Begthel,
H;Peters, PJ;Clevers, H
Confocal microscopy images showing
Lgr5-GFP+ve stem cells (green cells) at
the base of the crypts of the small
intestine (a, b) and colon (c). Figure
adapted from Barker N. et al,
Nature 449:1003, 2007.
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
In-vivo lineage tracing proves
that Lgr5+ve stem cells continuously
generate the entire intestinal
epithelium during the lifetime of the
mouse. Blue descendants of the Lgr5+ve
stem cells are readily visible on the
crypt/villus epithelium even 24 months
after initiating lineage tracing (for
an explanation of in-vivo
lineage tracing see: Barker N. and
Clevers H. “Tracking down the
stem cells of the intestine: Strategies
to identify adult stem cells”
Gastroenterology 133: 1755,
2007).