Epithelia: Understanding the Cell Biology of Intestinal Barrier Dysfunction  Daniel J.-K. Hu, Heinrich Jasper  Current Biology  Volume 27, Issue 5, Pages R185-R187 (March 2017) DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.01.035 Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Schematic representation of age-associated intestinal degeneration. As the fly ages, intestinal function degenerates as a consequence of gastric metaplasia (shown as red cells in the yellow gastric region of the gut in the lower panel), epithelial barrier dysfunction (shown as leakage of intestinal content at the right of the lower panel), commensal dysbiosis, and deregulation of intestinal stem cell activity (shown as dysplasia of the green stem cell lineage in the upper right panel). This dysfunction is accompanied by activation of the JNK signaling pathway in epithelial cells. Resnik-Docampo et al. [13] demonstrate a critical role for the age-related loss of the TCJ protein gliotactin (red dots in upper panel that are lost upon aging) in epithelial degeneration. EB, enteroblast; EC, enterocyte; EE, enteroendocrine cell; ISC, intestinal stem cell. Current Biology 2017 27, R185-R187DOI: (10.1016/j.cub.2017.01.035) Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd Terms and Conditions