Dietary cysteine enhances intestinal stemness via CD8+ T cell-derived IL-22

A critical question in physiology is to understand how tissuesadaptand alter their composition in responsetodietary cues.The mammalian small intestine, avitaldigestive organ thatabsorbs nutrients, is maintainedby rapidly renewing Lgr5+ intestinalstem cells (ISCs) located attheintestinal crypt base. While Lgr5+ ISCs drive intestinal adaptation by altering self-renewing and differentiating divisions inresponse todiverse diets such as high-fat diets and fasting regimens, little is known about howmicronutrients, like amino acids, instruct Lgr5+ ISCfate decisions to control intestinal homeostasis and repair after injury. Here, we demonstrate that cysteine, an essential amino acid, enhances theability of Lgr5+ ISCs to repair intestinal injury. Overall design: Lgr5-high and Lgr5-low cell populations were isolated and RNA was then extracted and sequenced from small intestine of cystine-fed samples and the matched control samples.