Mechanisms of embryonic stomach development

Abstract

The stomach is a digestive organ that has important roles in human physiology and pathophysiology. The developmental origin of the stomach is the embryonic foregut, which also gives rise a number of other structures. There are several signaling pathways and transcription factors that are known to regulate stomach development at different stages, including foregut patterning, stomach specification, and gastric regionalization. These developmental events have important implications in later homeostasis and disease in the adult stomach. Here we will review the literature that has shaped our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms that coordinate gastric organogenesis. Further we will discuss how developmental paradigms have guided recent efforts to differentiate stomach tissue from pluripotent stem cells.

Loss of GATA4 causes ectopic pancreas in the stomach

“…The glandular stomach is composed of columnar epithelial cells and can be further divided into the corpus and the most posterior region, the antrum . Although far from being completely understood, the specification of the embryonic stomach is regulated by a number of signaling pathways . The stomach derives from the foregut endoderm.…”

Take a deep breath and digest the material: organoids and biomaterials of the respiratory and digestive systems

“…The stomach has three separate muscle layers along with a submucosa and mucosa that surround the epithelium. [96] Thus, to better recapitulate the surrounding gastric environment, a stiffer matrix may need to be employed to maintain and/or further mature the gastric organoids.…”

GATA4 Is Required for Budding Morphogenesis of Posterior Foregut Endoderm in a Model of Human Stomach Development

“…Although gastric diseases cause substantial health and economic burdens worldwide, the fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms guiding the development and homeostasis of the human stomach remain vastly understudied. One reason likely stems from the diverse anatomical and cellular structures of this organ among various organisms (1,2). Vertebrate species have evolved stomachs of differing sizes, shapes, and cellular architectures, likely reflecting variations in dietary sources and needs.…”

“…The bulk of the human stomach, often referred to as the body, corpus, or fundus (herein referred to as fundus), is similar to the middle region of the rodent stomach. The fundic epithelium in both species is rich in acid-secreting parietal cells, zymogenic chief cells, and protective mucus-secreting cells (1)(2)(3). The more distal region of the human and rodent stomach, which leads to the intestine, is termed the antrum.…”

“…Although the structure of the mature gastric organ can differ vastly among species, formative studies in non-human model systems, including the mouse, zebrafish, frog, and chick, have uncovered fundamental pathways that appear to be conserved across species (1,2,4,5). These discoveries informed the development of an in vitro human model system, which provides a powerful new vehicle to explore the mechanisms of human gastric development ( Figure 1A) (6,7).…”