Our mucosal surfaces are constantly exposed to numerous bacterial species, some of which can induce DNA damage in host cells. Normally this remains inconsequential, as the rapid turnover of the mucosa means damaged cells are shed within days. However, if the long-lived stem cells that continually give rise to new replacement cells receive damage it could lead to the development of cancer. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology and the Charité-Universitätsmedizin in Berlin have now revealed that the gastric stem cell pool does do not merely divide to generate new daughter cells, but that they can secrete antimicrobial molecules to actively defend the stem cell niche against bacteria.
* This article was originally published here
