MINI REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Cell Growth and Division
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1632255
This article is part of the Research TopicDeciphering Signaling Pathway Interactions in Tissue HomeostasisView all 4 articles
Epithelial architecture and signaling activity in the adult human esophagus
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet (KI), Solna, Sweden
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Barrier epithelia function to shield the inside of our bodies from external stressors and pathogens. The esophageal epithelium is no exception, providing protection while at the same time transporting food to the stomach. AlthoughWhile many epithelial tissues are comparable between humans and mice, the human esophageal epithelium displays unique features in both progenitor cell organization and tissue architecture compared to the mouse. These differences have limited our understanding of the adult human esophagus, hindering the development of therapeutic strategies targeting human esophageal disease. Herein, we contrast the esophageal epithelial architecture and progenitor cell populations in mice and humans and discuss the role of a tentative human-specific progenitor cell population located in the submucosal gland ducts. Furthermore, we review current models available to study the human esophageal epithelium, focusing predominantly on adult primary organoids and epithelioids as well asand the generation of human developmental esophageal epithelial cells from induced pluripotent stem cells. Finally, we discuss signaling activity implicated in maintaining normal human epithelial homeostasis, and how these pathways contribute to the disease development. We aim to provide a comprehensive outlook on our current understanding of the human esophageal epithelium, while simultaneously highlighting unanswered questions in esophageal epithelial maintenance.
Keywords: Esophagus, Epithelium, signaling, progenitor cells, Culture systems
Received: 21 May 2025; Accepted: 04 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Grommisch, Eenjes, Troost and Genander. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Maria Genander, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet (KI), Solna, Sweden
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