Cellular redox: A modulator of intestinal epithelial cell proliferation

Mucosal proliferation, together with differentiation and apoptosis, are a continuous homeostatic process in the intestinal epithelium. The glutathione/glutathione disulfide redox status plays a key role in intestinal growth control wherein a reduced redox potential maintains a proliferative state. An oxidative shift in this potential elicits growth arrest and cell transition to a differentiated or apoptotic phenotype.