In:
eLife, eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd, Vol. 4 ( 2015-12-14)
Abstract:
Many tissues and organs in an adult’s body – including bone marrow, skin and intestines – contain a small number of cells called adult stem cells. These cells usually stay dormant within these tissues (at a site called a ‘niche’) until they are required to repair damaged or lost cells. At this point, adult stem cells can specialize, or ‘differentiate’, into the many different cell types that make up the tissue or organ where they reside. The cells that produce hairs are an example of adult stem cells. In mammals, hairs grow from structures called hair follicles that are found in the skin, and over the life of an animal, old hairs are shed and replaced. Previous research had suggested that certain embryonic cells are set to become hair follicle stem cells before the hair follicles emerge in the adult tissue. However it remained unclear how this decision is made, and which genes and molecules are involved in this process. Xu et al. have now found that, in mice, the fate of hair follicle stem cells is decided at an early stage in development, when the hair follicle is a simpler structure called a ‘hair peg’. Cells near the upper part of the hair peg tend to become dormant and adopt an adult stem cell fate, while the ones in the lower part are more likely to differentiate straight away. This shows that the position, hence the niche environment, plays a key role in determining these different cells’ fates. Xu et al. went on to discover that the decision for a cell to become a hair follicle stem cell relies on reduced signaling through the so-called Wnt signal pathway. Understanding how adult stem cells become established during development may help future efforts to grow tissues and organs in the laboratory for research purposes or organ transplantation.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2050-084X
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.001
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.002
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.003
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.004
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.005
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.006
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.007
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.008
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.009
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.010
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.011
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.012
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.013
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.014
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.015
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.016
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.017
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.10567.018
Language:
English
Publisher:
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Publication Date:
2015
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2687154-3
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