The self-renewing epithelial populations present in the gastric units of the mouse stomach
are descended from a multipotent stem cell and undergo an orderly migration-associated
differentiation followed by apoptosis. The steady state census of the three principal cell types
(acid-producing parietal cells, mucus-producing pit cells, and pepsinogen and intrinsic factor-
producing zymogenic cells) is accurately controlled, despite marked differences in the rates
of migration of each lineage. A transgenic mouse model has been created to define …