Intestinal epithelium undergoes dysfunctions and diseases over time with an exponential increase in the elderly population. Recent studies reported that the intestinal stem cells (ISCs) show a functional decline during aging and a lack of an appropriate cell identity control. Increase of cell-to-cell heterogeneity is a hallmark of aging tissues and organs, however there is little experimental evidence with regard to the cell heterogeneity of the ISCs. On the other hand, the ISCs continuously experience a niche clonality process that diminishes the initial cell heterogeneity over time. In this review, we discuss the latest findings on these topics focusing on the potential mechanisms driving intestinal stem cell heterogeneity and clonality during aging.

随着时间的流逝，肠上皮会出现功能障碍和疾病，老年人口呈指数级增长。最近的研究报道，肠道干细胞（ISC）在衰老过程中功能下降，并且缺乏适当的细胞身份控制。细胞间异质性的增加是衰老的组织和器官的标志，但是关于ISC的细胞异质性的实验证据很少。另一方面，ISC不断经历利基克隆过程，随着时间的流逝逐渐减少了初始细胞异质性。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了有关这些主题的最新发现，重点是在衰老过程中驱动肠道干细胞异质性和克隆性的潜在机制。