At the squamocolumnar junction of mice and humans,a new study has identified a unique population of transitional basal cells that express molecular markers of both oesophageal stratified squamous epithelium and gastrointestinal columnar epithelium. These transitional basal cells are an attractive candidate for the cell of origin for Barrett oesophagus.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Spechler, S. J. & Souza, R. F. Barrett's esophagus. N. Engl. J. Med. 371, 836–845 (2014).
Wang, D. H. The esophageal squamous epithelial cell — still a reasonable candidate for the Barrett's esophagus cell of origin? Cell. Mol. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 4, 157–160 (2017).
Garman, K. S. Origin of Barrett's epithelium: esophageal submucosal glands. Cell. Mol. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 4, 153–156 (2017).
Quante, M. et al. Barrett esophagus: what a mouse model can teach us about human disease. Cell Cycle 11, 4328–4338 (2012).
Wang, X. et al. Residual embryonic cells as precursors of a Barrett's-like metaplasia. Cell 145, 1023–1035 (2011).
Sarosi, G. et al. Bone marrow progenitor cells contribute to esophageal regeneration and metaplasia in a rat model of Barrett's esophagus. Dis. Esophagus 21, 43–50 (2008).
Jiang, M. et al. Transitional basal cells at the squamous-columnar junction generate Barrett's oesophagus. Nature 550, 529–533 (2017).
Glickman, J. N. et al. Phenotypic characteristics of a distinctive multilayered epithelium suggests that it is a precursor in the development of Barrett's esophagus. Am. J. Surg. Pathol. 25, 569–578 (2001).
Tsiouris, A., Hammoud, Z. & Velanovich, V. Barrett's esophagus after resection of the gastroesophageal junction: effects of concomitant fundoplication. World J. Surg. 35, 1867–1872 (2011).
Colleypriest, B. J. et al. Hnf4α is a key gene that can generate columnar metaplasia in oesophageal epithelium. Differentiation 93, 39–49 (2017).
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the NIH (R01 DK103598, R01 DK063621 and R21 DK111369).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
R.F.S. has served as a consultant and receives grant support from Ironwood Pharmaceuticals. S.J.S. has served as a consultant for Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Souza, R., Spechler, S. A new candidate for the progenitor cell of Barrett metaplasia. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 15, 7–8 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2017.167
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2017.167