In a key advance for regenerative medicine and gut health, scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have uncovered a precise and unexpected communication system in the gut. Support cells known as telocytes use fine extensions—like neurons in the brain—to deliver signals directly to intestinal stem cells. The study, published July 23, 2025 in the journal Developmental Cell, challenges long-standing assumptions about how the gut maintains and repairs itself, possibly leading to better treatments for conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colon cancer. The article is titled “Telocytes Deliver Essential Wnts Directly to Murine Intestinal Stem Cells Via Synapse-Like Contacts.”