Identification of Lgr5 as the intestinal stem cell marker as well as the growth factors
necessary to replicate adult intestinal stem cell division has led to the establishment of the
methods to generate" indefinite" ex vivo primary intestinal epithelial cultures, termed" mini-
intestines." Primary cultures developed from isolated intestinal crypts or stem cells (termed
enteroids/colonoids) and from inducible pluripotent stem cells (termed intestinal organoids)
are being applied to study human intestinal physiology and pathophysiology with great …