Enteric Nervous System Regulation of Intestinal Stem Cell Differentiation and Epithelial Monolayer Function

The Enteric Nervous System (ENS) is a complex network of neurons and glia, which regulates sensorimotor function throughout the gastroinestinal tract (GI). Here we investigated the role of the ENS and intestinal myofibroblasts in the maintenance of a primary intestinal epithelial barrier through regulation of monolayer permeability, cytokine production, and differentiation of intestinal stem cells. Utilizing a novel, in vitro, transwell-based coculture system, murine small intestinal stem cells were isolated and cultured with ENS neurons and glia or subepithelial myofibroblasts. Results show that the ENS contributes to regulation of intestinal stem cell fate, promoting differentiation into chemosensory enteroendocrine cells, with 0.9% of cells expressing chromogranin A when cultured with ENS versus 0.6% in cocultures with myofibroblasts and 0.3% in epithelial cultures alone. Additionally, enteric neurons and myofibroblasts differentially release cytokines Macrophage Inflammatory Protein 2 (MIP-2), Transforming Growth Factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), and Interleukin 10 (IL-10) when cultured with intestinal epithelial cells, with a 1.5 fold increase of IL-10 and a 3 fold increase in MIP-2 in ENS cocultures compared to coculture with myofibroblasts. These results indicate the importance of enteric populations in the regulation of intestinal barrier function.