Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Department of Biology & Biochemistry, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2012 Oct;22(5):494-9. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2012.08.001. Epub 2012 Sep 11.
The conversion of one cell type to another is defined as metaplasia (or sometimes it is referred to as transdifferentiation or cellular reprogramming). Metaplasia is important clinically and may predispose to the development of cancer. Barrett's metaplasia is one such example and is the focus of the present review. Barrett's is a pathological condition in which the normal oesophageal stratified squamous epithelium is replaced by intestinal-type columnar epithelium and is associated with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. The appearance of columnar epithelium in the oesophagus predisposes to the development of adenocarcinoma. Herein we review the latest evidence on the cellular origin of Barrett's metaplasia. Until recently it was thought that the cellular origin of the columnar epithelium was from a pre-existing cell within the oesophagus. However, recent evidence suggests that this may not be the case. Instead two recent publications indicate that the columnar cells may migrate from a site distal to the oesophagus. These new data contravene our current understanding of metaplasia and raise important questions about the cellular origin of cancer.
一种细胞类型向另一种细胞类型的转化被定义为化生（或者有时也被称为转分化或细胞重编程）。化生在临床上很重要，并且可能导致癌症的发生。巴雷特化生就是这样一个例子，也是本综述的重点。巴雷特化生是一种病理状况，其中正常的食管复层鳞状上皮被肠型柱状上皮所取代，并且与胃食管反流病有关。食管柱状上皮的出现易导致腺癌的发生。本文综述了关于巴雷特化生细胞起源的最新证据。直到最近，人们还认为柱状上皮的细胞起源于食管内的一种预先存在的细胞。然而，最近的证据表明情况并非如此。相反，最近的两项研究表明，柱状细胞可能从食管远端的部位迁移而来。这些新的数据与我们目前对化生的理解相矛盾，并提出了关于癌症细胞起源的重要问题。
