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First published online November 28, 2005

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Insulating niches for stem cells

Adult regenerative tissues, including the hair, are maintained throughout life by stem cell (SC) self-renewal and differentiation. These rare and hard to identify cells are thought to be maintained by a poorly understood microenvironment - the SC niche. On p. 5589, Osawa and colleagues, by molecularly characterizing the melanocyte SCs present at the base of hair follicles, provide new insights into how SC niches work. The researchers describe a new method for isolating melanocyte SCs, and other melanocyte subsets, from mouse hair follicles to obtain single-cell-based gene expression patterns from the different cell types. Noting that the transcription of key molecules needed for melanocyte proliferation and differentiation - such as Sox10, Kit and Lef1 - is downregulated in melanocyte SCs, the researchers propose that SC niches insulate SCs from activating stimuli, thus maintaining them in a quiescent state.

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Related articles in Development:

Molecular characterization of melanocyte stem cells in their niche

Masatake Osawa, Gyohei Egawa, Siu-Shan Mak, Mariko Moriyama, Rasmus Freter, Saori Yonetani, Friedrich Beermann, and Shin-Ichi Nishikawa
Development 2005 132: 5589-5599. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?