Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Jun 26, 2024; 16(6): 619-622
Published online Jun 26, 2024. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v16.i6.619
Gut microbiota modulating intestinal stem cell differentiation
Lin He, Chen Zhu, Xiang-Feng Zhou, Shu-E Zeng, Le Zhang, Kuan Li
Lin He, Xiang-Feng Zhou, Kuan Li, Department of Alcohol and Drug Dependence Treatment, The Mental Hospital of Yunnan Province, Kunming 650224, Yunnan Province, China
Chen Zhu, Department of Physical Education, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, Yunnan Province, China
Shu-E Zeng, Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, The Mental Hospital of Yunnan Province, Kunming 650224, Yunnan Province, China
Le Zhang, Sleep Medicine Center, The Mental Hospital of Yunnan Province, Kunming 650224, Yunnan Province, China
Author contributions: He L, Zhu C, Zhou XF, Zeng SE, Zhang L, and Li K contributed to this paper; He L, Zhu C, and Li K designed the overall concept and outline of the manuscript; Zhou XF, Zeng SE, and Zhang L contributed to the discussion and design of the manuscript; Zhu C and Li K contributed to the writing, and editing the manuscript, illustrations, and review of literature.
Supported by Scientific Research Fund Project of Education Department of Yunnan Province, No. 2023J0346; the Kunming Health Commission Kunming Health Science and Technology Personnel Training Project, No. 2021-SW-75; and the Medical and Health Science and Technology Project of Kunming Health Committee, No. 2022-03-09-008.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kuan Li, PhD, Doctor, Department of Alcohol and Drug Dependence Treatment, The Mental Hospital of Yunnan Province, No. 733 Chuanjin Road, Panlong District, Kunming 650224, Yunnan Province, China. n_kli_sxwang@163.com
Received: February 22, 2024
Revised: May 6, 2024
Accepted: May 20, 2024
Published online: June 26, 2024
Processing time: 124 Days and 2.5 Hours
Abstract

Proliferation and differentiation of intestinal stem cell (ISC) to replace damaged gut mucosal epithelial cells in inflammatory states is a critical step in ameliorating gut inflammation. However, when this disordered proliferation continues, it induces the ISC to enter a cancerous state. The gut microbiota on the free surface of the gut mucosal barrier is able to interact with ISC on a sustained basis. Microbiota metabolites are able to regulate the proliferation of gut stem and progenitor cells through transcription factors, while in steady state, differentiated colonocytes are able to break down such metabolites, thereby protecting stem cells at the gut crypt. In the future, the gut flora and its metabolites mediating the regulation of ISC differentiation will be a potential treatment for enteropathies.

Keywords: Intestinal stem cells, Gut microbiota, Gut stem niche, Microenvironment, Probiotics

Core Tip: The dysbiosis may cause intestinal cancer. when the proliferation of the stem cells attempting to repair the loss of integrity of the gut barrier. The correction of the gut stem niche dysbiosis by the assumption of some beneficial microbiota could be a specific therapy of this disease.