The expression of sucrase-isomaltase mRNA was investigated along the crypt-villus axis of rat small intestine using differentially isolated cells and in situ hybridization. A partial rat sucrase-isomaltase cDNA was cloned which coded for a protein that was predicted to be 88% homologous to those encoded by the rabbit and human cDNAs. Southern blot analysis of rat genomic DNA indicated that the ...

Development of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract depends on reciprocal epithelial-mesenchymal cell signaling. Here, we demonstrate a role for platelet-derived growth factor-A (PDGF-A) and its receptor, PDGFR-(alpha), in this process. Mice lacking PDGF-A or PDGFR-(alpha) were found to develop an abnormal GI mucosal lining, including fewer and misshapen villi and loss of pericryptal mesenchyme. Ons...

Villus epithelial cells in fetal human small intestine are HLA-DR- until 17 weeks gestation. At 18 weeks HLA-DR begins to be expressed in the epithelial cells, usually at the villus tips. Of 13 specimens examined between 18 and 22 weeks gestation, two were HLD-DR-, seven had HLA-DR expressed only at the villus tips and in four most of the villus epithelial cells were HLA-DR+. The epithelium ove...

BACKGROUND Intestinal adaptation after massive bowel resection in animal models is characterized by increased gut-mucosal growth and expression of nutrient transporters. Few data about these indexes exist in humans with short-bowel syndrome (SBS). OBJECTIVE The objective was to compare small-bowel and colonic mucosal growth and expression of the peptide transporter PepT1 in adults with or wit...

The present study was aimed at elucidating the effects of supplementing mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) and probiotic mixture (PM) on growth performance, intestinal histology, and corticosterone concentrations in broilers kept under chronic heat stress (HS). Four hundred fifty 1-d-old chicks were divided into 5 treatment groups and fed a corn-soybean diet ad-libitum. The temperature control (CONT...

DNA-binding transcription factors bind to promoters that carry their binding sites. Transcription factors therefore function as nodes in gene regulatory networks. In the present work we used a bioinformatic approach to search for transcription factors that might function as nodes in gene regulatory networks during the differentiation of the small intestinal epithelial cell. In addition we have ...

The Na(+)-dependent glucose transporter SGLT1 and the facilitated fructose transporter GLUT5 absorb sugars from the intestinal lumen across the brush-border membrane into the cells. The activity of these transport systems is known to be regulated primarily by diet and development. The cloning of these transporters has led to a surge of studies on cellular mechanisms regulating intestinal sugar ...

BACKGROUND In the chronically inflamed rabbit small intestine, brush border membrane (BBM) Na-glutamine co-transport is inhibited in villus cells (mediated by B0AT1), while it is stimulated in crypt cells (mediated by SN2/SNAT5). How mast cells, known to be enhanced in the chronically inflamed intestine, may regulate B0AT1 in villus and SN2/SNAT5 in crypt cell is unknown. Thus, the aim of the p...

BACKGROUND Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been implicated in the turnover of epithelial cells in the rat intestine. The metabolism of ethanol generates ROS, which are implicated in cellular injury, but the levels of lipid peroxidation in intestine in chronic alcoholism are unknown. AIM To investigate the effects of ethanol ingestion on lipid peroxidation, and anti- and pro-oxidant enzyme ...