Histone methyltransferase EZH2 is critical for HSD11B2 expression in human trophoblast cells

Abstract

In progressing from a simple tube to mature digestive organs, the alimentary tract is patterned along distinct axes. Transcription factors pattern the gut tube along the rostrocaudal axis, delineating a foregut, a midgut, and a hindgut. Reciprocal signals along the radial axis then enable differentiation of the mesoderm-derived mesenchyme and muscle cells from diverse endoderm-derived epithelia. Inductive interactions further specify discrete organs such as the stomach, liver, and pancreas, which show dorsoventral and left–right asymmetries. Finally, patterning of the radially symmetric small bowel along a luminal–mural axis separates progenitors in submucosal crypts from differentiated cells restricted to the villi. Diverse forces drive morphogenesis: radial cell intercalation, cell shape changes, asymmetric tissue growth, and tension from surrounding structures. Much remains unclear about how positional and inductive cues activate particular genes to implement this developmental program.