Abstract
The Notch signalling pathway plays a crucial role in specifying cellular fates in metazoan development by regulating communication between adjacent cells1,2. Correlative studies suggested an involvement of Notch in intestinal development. Here, by modulating Notch activity in the mouse intestine, we directly implicate Notch signals in intestinal cell lineage specification. We also show that Notch activation is capable of amplifying the intestinal progenitor pool while inhibiting cell differentiation. We conclude that Notch activity is required for the maintenance of proliferating crypt cells in the intestinal epithelium.
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Acknowledgements
We thank K. Isselbacher, A. McClatchey, M. Curto and I. Saotome for technical help, discussions and critical reading of the manuscript. S.A.-T. was supported by the National Institutes of Health. S.R. and D.L. were supported by the Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer and Biologie du développement et physiologie intégrative.
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Supplementary information
Supplementary Figure S1
Cre-mediated over-expression of activated Notch. (PDF 94 kb)
Supplementary Figure S2
Disruption of the rostro-caudal wave of intestinal differentiation elicited by Notch activation during embryonic development. (PDF 115 kb)
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Fre, S., Huyghe, M., Mourikis, P. et al. Notch signals control the fate of immature progenitor cells in the intestine. Nature 435, 964–968 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03589
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03589
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