Stromal DLK1 promotes proliferation and inhibits differentiation of the intestinal epithelium during development
Mari Ichinose, Nobumi Suzuki, Tongtong Wang, Josephine A. Wright, Tamsin R.M. Lannagan, Laura Vrbanac, Hiroki Kobayashi, Krystyna A. Gieniec, Jia Q. Ng, Yoku Hayakawa, Patricia García-Gallastegui, Eva M. Monsalve, Steven R. Bauer, Jorge Laborda, José Javier Garcı́a-Ramı́rez, Gaskon Ibarretxe, Daniel L. Worthley, Susan L. Woods
Abstract
Using a novel coculture system, transcriptomics, and transgenic mice, we investigated differential molecular signaling between the intestinal epithelium and mesenchyme during development and in the adult. We show that the Notch pathway factor delta-like protein-1 (DLK1) is stromally produced during development and uncover a new role for DLK1 in the regulation of intestinal epithelial stem/precursor expansion and differentiation to secretory lineages.