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First published online April 30, 2007

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Akts of stem cell self-renewal

The self-renewing ability of stem cells is crucial in many developmental contexts; however, the mechanisms that regulate the switch between proliferation and differentiation are poorly understood. Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) provide an excellent model in which to study self-renewal as large numbers of stem cells can be expanded in culture and the markers that characterise these cells are well defined. On p. 1853, Shinohara and colleagues reveal a crucial role for the phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K)-Akt pathway in mouse SSC self-renewal. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) has previously been shown to regulate the self-renewal of SSCs in culture via downstream signals that have yet to be fully elucidated. Now these authors show that Akt is phosphorylated in the presence of GDNF and that this activated Akt can maintain SSC self-renewal in culture for several months; this self-renewal capacity can be inhibited by a chemical inhibitor of PI3K. Whether these insights can be applied to other tissue-specific stem cells remains to be determined.

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Akt mediates self-renewal division of mouse spermatogonial stem cells

Jiyoung Lee, Mito Kanatsu-Shinohara, Kimiko Inoue, Narumi Ogonuki, Hiromi Miki, Shinya Toyokuni, Tohru Kimura, Toru Nakano, Atsuo Ogura, and Takashi Shinohara
Development 2007 134: 1853-1859. [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?