Gene expression profile of mouse intestinal epithelial cells during homeostasis and villus atrophy

The epithelium that lines small intestinal villi is critically important for nutrient absorption, defense against pathogens, and mucosal homeostasis. Atrophy or blunting of the villi as a result of epithelial damage is commonly observed in celiac disease, viral gastroenteritis, and various other pathologies. Whereas adaptive responses during epithelial stem cell injury are increasingly well understood, how epithelial tissues, and particularly the intestine, cope with drastic loss of differentiated cells remains unclear. Using an acute model of viral gastroenteritis induced by poly(I:C), we aimed to dissect the cellular adaptations that follow severe intestinal villus injury. Transcriptional profiling of laser-capture microdissected (LCM) epithelial cells from homeostatic and atrophic villi was performed by microarray, each with four replicates.