Scientists uncover how the intestine balances cell growth and maintenance

MedicalXpress | 四月 22, 2026

A new preclinical study from Weill Cornell Medicine found that the protein caspase-5 (CASP5), long thought to be a foot soldier in the body's defense against bacterial infection, does not actually help clear invaders the way its close cousin caspase-4 (CASP4) does. Instead, the researchers discovered that CASP5 boosts the signal to proliferate in a population of gut cells that maintains a healthy intestinal lining and replaces injured cells with new, healthy ones.