Molecular Aspects of Epithelial-Connective Tissue Interactions during the Intestinal Remodeling

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During amphibian metamorphosis, the larval epithelium undergoes apoptosis, whereas the adult epithelium that originates from a small number of stem cells actively proliferates and differentiates into the intestinal absorptive epithelium similar to the mammalian counter-part. The larval-to-adult epithelial transformation can be triggered by a single hormone, thyroid hormone(TH), in organ cultures in vitro as well as in vivo. Thus, for the study of the organic remodeling, the amphibian intestine serves as a unique model system, where the molecular mechanisms underlying the intestinal remodeling can be clarified through the analysis of TH response genes. Recently, in the Xenopus laevis intestine, a large number of TH response genes have been cloned and become available. To assess possible functions of the TH response genes, we examined by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical analyses the relationships between their expression pattern and the morphological changes at the cellular level. In this article, we review these recent findings that have thrown light on the molecular pathways of the intestinal remodeling, with particular focus on TH response genes involved in the epithelial-connective tissue interactions, which we previously demonstrated to be essential for the progression of the epithelial transformation.
日本組織細胞化学会の論文