Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Enteric nervous system in 2023

Fresh perspectives on how to build, maintain and repair the ENS

  • Year in Review
  • Published:

From Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

View current issue Sign up to alerts

Enteric nervous system function is essential for survival. Studies published in 2023 have provided important novel insights into the mechanisms that regulate its development and maintenance, and demonstrate how it can be restored when these mechanisms fail.

Key advances

  • Enteric neuron differentiation trajectories branch off a fundamental gliogenic axis and mature enteric glia preserve the neurogenic properties of early enteric nervous system (ENS) progenitors5.

  • Muscularis macrophages associated with the myenteric plexus transition from an active phagocytic profile during early postnatal stages to an ENS-protective phenotype in the adult gut8.

  • Vagal and sacral neural crest precursors derived from human pluripotent stem cells generate distinct enteric neuron subtypes, exhibit different migratory behaviours and, when combined, can rescue a severe mouse model of Hirschsprung disease9.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1: New insights into how the enteric nervous system develops and is sustained, and how it can be repaired in disease.

References

  1. Schneider, S., Wright, C. M. & Heuckeroth, R. O. Unexpected roles for the second brain: enteric nervous system as master regulator of bowel function. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 81, 235–259 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Fung, C. & Vanden Berghe, P. Functional circuits and signal processing in the enteric nervous system. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 77, 4505–4522 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Margolis, K. G., Cryan, J. F. & Mayer, E. A. The microbiota-gut-brain axis: from motility to mood. Gastroenterology 160, 1486–1501 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Rao, M. & Gershon, M. D. Enteric nervous system development: what could possibly go wrong? Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 19, 552–565 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Laddach, A. et al. A branching model of lineage differentiation underpinning the neurogenic potential of enteric glia. Nat. Commun. 14, 5904 (2023).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Guyer, R. A. et al. Single-cell multiome sequencing clarifies enteric glial diversity and identifies an intraganglionic population poised for neurogenesis. Cell Rep. 42, 112194 (2023).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Wang, H., Foong, J. P. P., Harris, N. L. & Bornstein, J. C. Enteric neuroimmune interactions coordinate intestinal responses in health and disease. Mucosal Immunol. 15, 27–39 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Viola, M. F. et al. Dedicated macrophages organize and maintain the enteric nervous system. Nature 618, 818–826 (2023).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Fan, Y. et al. hPSC-derived sacral neural crest enables rescue in a severe model of Hirschsprung’s disease. Cell Stem Cell 30, 264–282.e9 (2023).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Frith, T. J. R. et al. Human axial progenitors generate trunk neural crest cells in vitro. eLife 7, e35786 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The lab of W.B. is supported by the Francqui Foundation and grants from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO: G036320N) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO VIDI: 016.196.367).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical Research Institute (BIOMED), Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium

    Werend Boesmans

  2. Department of Pathology, GROW-School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Werend Boesmans

Authors
  1. Werend Boesmans
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Werend Boesmans.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Boesmans, W. Fresh perspectives on how to build, maintain and repair the ENS. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 21, 82–83 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-023-00870-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-023-00870-4

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation