Ion channels, pumps, and exchangers regulate the transport of ions, such as Na+, Cl–, K+, and Ca2+, in and out of cells, and gap junctions allow the movement of ions across cells.
Ion imbalance is highly associated with intestinal disorders and even cancer; therefore, a genetic model capable of decoding in vivo how ion regulation affects intestinal stem cell proliferation could have great therapeutic value.
Recent advances in the adult Drosophila gut identify different molecular mechanisms by which conserved ion channels regulate intestinal stem cell proliferation.
The Drosophila gut is an attractive in vivo model to decipher how ion regulation and bioelectric currents affect conserved molecular pathways that drive proliferation during physiological and pathophysiological states.
