While this image might look like a multicolored tile floor, it is actually a cross section through the fingerlike bumps on the intestinal wall called villi. The cells within the villi, which you can ...

Cells on the inner surface of the intestine are replaced every few days. But, how does this work? It was always assumed that cells leave the intestinal surface because excess cells are pushed out. In ...

Our guts hold a kind of brain, known as the enteric nervous system; it is a network of neurons that extends throughout the walls of the gastrointestinal tract. This neural network can also function ...

The capacity of intestinal stem cells to maintain cellular balance in the gut decreases upon aging. Researchers have discovered a new mechanism of action between the nutrient adaptation of intestinal ...

The terms "intestinal barrier" and "intestinal permeability" describe two different aspects of the same anatomical structure, the intestinal wall composed of four layers, the mucosa, the submucosa, ...

The human immune system changes with age. Immune responses start to become less robust as people get older, which makes them more vulnerable to certain infections and diseases. However, immune system ...

Healthy digestion depends on a delicate balance of fluid in the gut. At the heart of that balance are epithelial cells, which line the intestinal wall and control how salt and water move in and out of ...