Objective: To review the development of researches on the stem cells and the tissue engineering technique used in the intestines.
Methods: We comprehensively reviewed the literature related to the stem cells and the tissue engineering technique used in the intestines, and summarized the conclusions made by the researches concerned.
Results: The researches on the stem cells and the tissue engineering technique used in the intestines were attractive topics in the recent years and obtained some developments, especially in the field dealing with the characteristics, proliferation and differentiation of the intestinal stem cells as well as the tissue engineering framework of the small intestinal submucosa in vivo. However, the markers for the differentiation of the intestinal stem cells were still a critical problem, which had not been solved yet, and besides, the researches on the intestinal tissue engineering were still in the initial stage.
Conclusion: There is a broad prospective application of the intestinal stem cells and the tissue engineering technique to the intestinal problem solution. Substantial achievements can be obtained in the treatment of the inflammatory bowel disease, in an exploration on the oncogenesis mechanism, and in the clinical application of the intestinal tissue engineering.