From Definitive Endoderm to Gut—a Process of Growth and Maturation

The intestine and colon carries out vital functions, and their lifelong maintenance is of the upmost importance. Research over the past decades has carefully addressed bowel function, how it is maintained and begun to unravel how disorders such as cancer and inflammatory bowel disease form. In contrast, very little is known about the molecular mechanisms that trigger tissue maturation during development. With this review, our aim is to carefully provide a critical appraisal of the literature to give a state-of-the-art view of intestinal development. Starting from definitive endoderm at gastrulation to the emergence of a structure with mature properties, the tissue undergoes complex morphogenetic processes that rely on both biophysical changes and secreted signaling molecules. We will also discuss how new and exciting developments using in vitro models are likely to provide new insights into this process and potential therapeutic strategies for gastrointestinal disorders.

• Publication year

  2015

• Venue

  Stem Cells and Development

• Publication date

  2015-05-28

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1089/scd.2015.0017PMID 26134088
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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