BEST4+ TA
Gene co-expression module in Intestinal stem cells and transit amplifying cells
| Category | absorptive cell development |
|---|---|
| Genes | 0 |
| Annotation certainty | 5 of 5 |
| Annotation consistency | 10 of 12 genes have a known function matching the annotation |
Why this annotation
The module is defined by BEST4, CA4, CA7, SPIB, HEPACAM2, and UNC5C — all established markers of the BEST4+/OTOP2+ colonocyte subset, a specialized absorptive cell population involved in pH sensing and ion transport. NOTCH2 and NEURL1 link to Notch signaling governing this differentiation lineage. The low detection rate (~4.4%) is consistent with this rare cell type. The strong negative correlation with active IBD inflammation and positive correlation with UC remission matches published data showing BEST4+ cell depletion during colitis and recovery in remission. This is a contamination signal from BEST4+ colonocytes appearing in the progenitor dataset.
Genes
Module annotations were drafted by a large language model from the module's genes, then reviewed and approved by a domain expert. See sources & licences.