What do Paneth cells secrete?

Paneth cells are specialized intestinal epithelial cells that secrete abundant antimicrobial proteins, including lysozyme, and thus disrupting Paneth cell secretion can lead to inflammatory disease (2–4).

Do Paneth cells secrete antimicrobial peptides?

Paneth cells secrete these microbicidal granules that contain alpha-defensins when exposed ex vivo to bacteria or their antigens, and recent evidence reveals that antimicrobial peptides, particularly alpha-defensins, that are present in Paneth cells contribute to intestinal innate host defense.

Do Paneth cells secrete mucin?

Paneth cells are a key subset of secretory epithelial cells found at the base of small intestinal crypts. Unlike intestinal goblet cells, which secrete the mucin Muc2, Paneth cells are best known for producing an array of antimicrobial factors.

Why are Paneth cells important?

Paneth cells provide host defense against microbes in the small intestine. Protection of these stem cells is essential for long-term maintainance of the intestinal epithelium, and the location of Paneth cells adjacent to stem cells suggests that they play a critical role in defending epithelial cell renewal.

How are Paneth cells involved in the Wnt signaling pathway?

Paneth cells participate in the Wnt signaling pathway, which regulates stem cell proliferation in the intestines.

What do Paneth cells do in the small intestine?

Paneth cell. Perhaps more intriguing, Paneth cells secrete factors that help sustain and modulate the epithelial stem and progenitor cells that cohabitate in the crypts and rejuvenate the small intestinal epithelium.”.

How are Paneth cells related to stem cells?

However, unlike the other epithelial cell types, Paneth cells migrate downward from the stem cell region and settle just adjacent to it. This close relationship to the stem cell region is thought to suggest that Paneth cells are important in defending the gland stem cells from microbial damage, although their function is not entirely known.

Why do Paneth cells secrete α defensins?

Paneth cells secrete granules containing α-defensins when exposed to bacteria, bacterial antigens, cholinergic stimuli or certain nutrients, and the secreted α-defensins elicit potent microbicidal activities against pathogens ( 3 – 5 ).