Xenbase Image ID: 152399

Fig. 1. (A) Mouse intestinal maturation (upper panel) resembles Xenopus metamorphic intestinal remodeling (lower panel). In both species, the adult stem cells are formed from the preexisting epithelial cells when the plasma thyroid hormone (T3) levels become high. After birth, cells in the intervillus region of the mouse intestine develop into adult stem cells expressing protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) and hedgehog (hh) (green cells with irregular-shaped dark nuclei) and invaginate into the underlying connective tissue to form the crypts. During Xenopus metamorphosis, some larval epithelial cells undergo dedifferentiation to become the adult stem cells that express high levels of PRMT1 and sonic hedgehog (Shh) (green cells with irregular-shaped dark nuclei). Subsequently, the descendants of these adult stem cells in both mouse and Xenopus replace the suckling-type or larval-type epithelial cells via active proliferation and differentiation to generate the adult epithelium possessing a self-renewal system (green cells). Modified after [14]. (B) Intestinal remodeling during Xenopus laevis metamorphosis. In premetamorphic tadpoles at stage 51, the intestine has a simple structure with only a single fold, the typhlosole. At the metamorphic climax around stage 61, the larval epithelial cells begin to undergo apoptosis, as indicated by the open circles. Concurrently, the proliferating adult stem cells are developed de novo from larval epithelial cells through dedifferentiation, as indicated by black dots. By the end of metamorphosis at stage 66, the newly differentiated adult epithelial cells form a multiply folded epithelium. Image published in: Fu L and Shi YB (2017) Copyright © 2017. This image is reproduced with permission of the publisher and the copyright holder. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. Larger Image Printer Friendly View

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