In this issue of Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Agoston et al1 report that, in an esophago-jejuno anastomosed rat model, metaplastic columnar-lined esophagus develops within a wound-healing process in the distal edge of a region of ulceration, starting distally at the esophago-jejuno anastomosis. This ulcer migrated proximally, and the length of the columnar-lined esophagus elongated in the time course after the anastomotic surgery. They also concluded that the columnar-lined esophagus was caused through migration of jejunal cells into the esophagus, as the immunoprofile of columnar-lined esophagus was similar to jejunal crypt epithelium.