UCLA

Intestinal epithelial stem cells (IESC) have been an area of intense study for applications in tissue engineering and understanding intestinal diseases. Feeder support cells are used in a variety of stem cell co-cultures to sustain their growth. Intestinal subepithelial myofibroblasts (ISEMF) are the natural support cells for intestinal stem cells in vivo. In this study, IESC and were grown in co-culture with ISEMF in the in vitro and in vivo setting. We showed that ISEMF enhanced the growth of IESC in vitro and were critical for the formation of intestinal epithelial structures in vivo. ISEMF supported the growth of intestinal crypts in vitro even in the absence of added soluble Rspo1. This co-culture system reconstitutes a part of the intestinal stem cell niche.