Oh Seunghoon, Yoo Young Bok
Dept. of Physiology, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Korea.
Dept. of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Korea.
Dev Reprod. 2019 Dec;23(4):305-311. doi: 10.12717/DR.2019.23.4.305. Epub 2019 Dec 31.
Small intestine has a structure called villi that increases the mucosal surface area for nutrient absorption. Intricate and tight epithelial-mesenchymal interactions are required for villi development. These interactions are regulated by signaling molecules, physical forces, and epithelial deformation. Signaling molecules include hedgehog (Hh), bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and Wnt ligands. The Hh ligand is expressed from the epithelium and binds to the underlying mesenchymal cells, resulting in aggregation into mesenchymal clusters. The clusters express BMP and Wnt ligands to control its size and spacing between clusters. The clusters then form villi. Despite the fact that the villi formation is studied extensively, we do not have a complete understanding. In addition, the recent study shows there is a great relationship between the overexpression of the Hh signal and development of cancer in the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, signaling between epithelial and mesenchymal cells and their physical interactions will be discussed on this review.
小肠具有一种名为绒毛的结构，其增加了用于营养吸收的黏膜表面积。绒毛发育需要复杂且紧密的上皮-间充质相互作用。这些相互作用由信号分子、物理力和上皮变形调节。信号分子包括刺猬信号蛋白（Hh）、骨形态发生蛋白（BMP）和Wnt配体。Hh配体由上皮表达并与下方的间充质细胞结合，导致聚集形成间充质簇。这些簇表达BMP和Wnt配体以控制其大小和簇之间的间距。然后这些簇形成绒毛。尽管绒毛形成已被广泛研究，但我们尚未完全理解。此外，最近的研究表明Hh信号的过表达与胃肠道癌症的发生有很大关系。因此，本综述将讨论上皮细胞和间充质细胞之间的信号传导及其物理相互作用。
