Opinion: Building epithelial architecture: insights from three-dimensional culture models.

ABSTRACT

How do individual cells organize into multicellular tissues? Here, we propose that the morphogenetic behaviour of epithelial cells is guided by two distinct elements an intrinsic differentiation programme that drives formation of a lumen-enclosing monolayer, and a growth factor-induced, transient de-differentiation that allows this monolayer to be remodelled.