Lymphatics act as a signaling hub to regulate intestinal stem cell activity

Barrier epithelia depend upon resident stem cells for homeostasis, defense, and repair. Epithelial stem cells of small and large intestines (ISCs) respond to their local microenvironments (niches) to fulfill a continuous demand for tissue turnover. The complexity of these niches and underlying communication pathways are not fully known. Here, we report a lymphatic network at the intestinal crypt base that intimately associates with ISCs. Employing in vivo loss of function and lymphatic:organoid cocultures, we show that crypt lym-phatics maintain ISCs and inhibit their precocious differentiation. Pairing single-cell and spatial transcriptom-ics, we apply BayesPrism to deconvolve expression within spatial features and develop SpaceFold to robustly map the niche at high resolution, exposing lymphatics as a central signaling hub for the crypt in gen-eral and ISCs in particular. We identify WNT-signaling factors (WNT2, R-SPONDIN-3) and a hitherto unappre-ciated extracellular matrix protein, REELIN, as crypt lymphatic signals that directly govern the regenerative potential of ISCs.

Automated summary

This study reveals a lymphatic network associated with intestinal stem cells (ISCs) in the small and large intestines. The crypt lymphatics maintain ISCs and prevent their premature differentiation. Using single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, lymphatics are identified as a central signaling hub for the crypt and ISCs.