Abstract
The lumen of the esophagus is lined with a squamous stratified epithelium. In the model of Doupé et al. (based on the mouse esophageal epithelium), a single population of epithelial progenitor cells (yellow) is present above the basal lamina. The epithelium is maintained, under basal conditions, by these cells, which divide and produce both more progenitor cells or differentiate into the layers of the stratified epithelium