Growth of the maternal intestine during pregnancy and lactation [gut epithelium]

The organs of female animals can be dramatically enlarged and metabolically remodelled by reproduction. The cellular changes and genetic programmes that initiate and sustain these transformations remain largely uncharacterised. It is also unclear whether the mechanisms that drive reproductive growth are shared between organs, or with other environmental triggers of adult organ growth. We have tackled these questions in mouse mothers, whose intestines provide a striking and genetically tractable example of reproductive organ resizing. We find that intestinal remodelling during reproduction is anticipatory of reproductive needs and distinct from diet-induced intestinal resizing.