Lund/Magness lab student Adam Gracz has published a review article with Dr. Scott Magness in the American Journal of Physiology: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.

Gracz AD, Magness ST. Sry-box (SOX) transcription factors in gastrointestinal physiology and disease. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2011 Apr;300(4):G503-15. Epub 2011 Feb 3.

Adam summarizes the review:

“Somatic stem cell biology focuses on understanding the physiological behavior of stem cells in the adult organism. Though we tend to associate stem cells with fetal development, nearly every organ in the adult body has been shown to harbor a small population of stem cells that replace old or damaged cells and maintain normal organ function. Stem cells are of particular interest in gastrointestinal physiology due to the devastating effects associated with gastrointestinal (GI) disease and the potential of stem cells to treat major disorders such as diabetes, cirrhosis, and GI cancers.

In this review, we discuss the current body of knowledge pertaining to the role of Sox factors in gastrointestinal stem cells. Sox genes function as transcription factors that regulate the expression of many other genes across a wide range of tissues during development and into adulthood. They have been shown to play a fundamental role in maintaining the potency of stem cells in many organs, including the brain, spinal cord, and blood. Groundbreaking research in our lab and others has identified Sox factors in stem cells of the GI tract. Understanding how this family of genes controls the way stem cells behave could open the door to novel clinical therapies. Manipulating the expression of Sox factors could provide avenues by which to grow replacement tissue in vitro or identify novel targets for drug or gene-based therapy.”