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This HSCI Research Update synthesizes the scientific work published by HSCI Principal Faculty each month. To continue receiving this newsletter, please register as an HSCI Affiliate or Friend by clicking here.
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In a review paper published in Nature, HSCI Scientific Co-Director David Scadden explores the interplay between stem cells and their niche, and how this relationship sustains tissues and its role in the design of stem cell therapies.
Title:
The Stem-Cell Niche as an Entity of Action
Author:
David T. Scadden, MD
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Abstract:
Stem-cell populations are established in 'niches' - specific anatomic locations that regulate how they participate in tissue generation, maintenance and repair. The niche saves stem cells from depletion, while protecting the host from over-exuberant stem-cell proliferation. It constitutes a basic unit of tissue physiology, integrating signals that mediate the balanced response of stem cells to the needs of organisms. Yet the niche may also induce pathologies by imposing aberrant function on stem cells or other targets. The interplay between stem cells and their niche creates the dynamic system necessary for sustaining tissues, and for the ultimate design of stem-cell therapeutics.
Figure 1
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Refining elements necessary for an adult stem-cell niche. (a) Early studies provided evidence that heterologous cell types created a three-dimensional structure in which stem cells reside. (b) Recent data raises the possibility that a regulatory microenvironment might include stem cells simply resident on the basement membrane with homologous cellÐcell interactions. Stem cells are shown in deep green and more mature offspring are represented by a lighter shade.
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Figure 3
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Inputs feeding back on stem-cell function in the niche. Elements of the local environment that participate in regulating the system of a stem cell in its tissue state are depicted. These include the constraints of the architectural space, physical engagement of the cell membrane with tethering molecules on neighbouring cells or surfaces, signalling interactions at the interface of stem cells and niche or descendent cells, paracrine and endocrine signals from local or distant sources, neural input and metabolic products of tissue activity.
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- Gupta S, Zhu H, Zon LI, Evans T. BMP signaling restricts hemato-vascular development from lateral mesoderm during somitogenesis. Development. 2006 Jun;133(11):2177-87. Read Abstract.
- Inada A, Nienaber C, Fonseca S, Bonner-Weir S. Timing and expression pattern of carbonic anhydrase II in pancreas. Dev Dyn. 2006 Jun;235(6):1571-7. Read Abstract.
- Deramaudt TB, Takaoka M, Upadhyay R, Bowser MJ, Porter J, Lee A, Rhoades B, Johnstone CN, Weissleder R, Hingorani SR, Mahmood U, Rustgi AK. N-cadherin and keratinocyte growth factor receptor mediate the functional interplay between Ki-RASG12V and p53V143A in promoting pancreatic cell migration, invasion, and tissue architecture disruption. Mol Cell Biol. 2006 Jun;26(11):4185-200. Read Abstract.
- Kang HW, Torres D, Wald L, Weissleder R, Bogdanov AA. Targeted imaging of human endothelial-specific marker in a model of adoptive cell transfer. Lab Invest. 2006 Jun;86(6):599-609. Read Abstract.
- Deguchi JO, Aikawa M, Tung CH, Aikawa E, Kim DE, Ntziachristos V, Weissleder R, Libby P. Inflammation in atherosclerosis: visualizing matrix metalloproteinase action in macrophages in vivo. Circulation. 2006 Jul 4;114(1):55-62. Read Abstract.
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- Costa DB, Dayaram T, D'Alo F, Wouters BJ, Tenen DG, Meyerson M, Tsao MS, Halmos B. C/EBPalpha mutations in lung cancer. Lung Cancer. 2006 Jun 8. Read Abstract.
- Ji H, Li D, Chen L, Shimamura T, Kobayashi S, McNamara K, Mahmood U, Mitchell A, Sun Y, Al-Hashem R, Chirieac LR, Padera R, Bronson RT, Kim W, Janne PA, Shapiro GI, Tenen D, Johnson BE, Weissleder R, Sharpless NE, Wong KK. The impact of human EGFR kinase domain mutations on lung tumorigenesis and in vivo sensitivity to EGFR-targeted therapies. Cancer Cell. 2006 Jun;9(6):485-95. Read Abstract.
- Basel-Vanagaite L, Muncher L, Straussberg R, Pasmanik-Chor M, Yahav M, Rainshtein L, Walsh CA, Magal N, Taub E, Drasinover V, Shalev H, Attia R, Rechavi G, Simon AJ, Shohat M. Mutated nup62 causes autosomal recessive infantile bilateral striatal necrosis. Ann Neurol. 2006 Jun 19. Read Abstract.
- Chung S, Shin BS, Hwang M, Lardaro T, Kang UJ, Isacson O, Kim KS. Neural precursors derived from embryonic stem cells, but not those from fetal ventral mesencephalon, maintain the potential to differentiate into dopaminergic neurons after expansion in vitro. Stem Cells. 2006 Jun;24(6):1583-93. Read Abstract.
- Chung S, Shin BS, Hedlund E, Pruszak J, Ferree A, Kang UJ, Isacson O, Kim KS. Genetic selection of sox1GFP-expressing neural precursors removes residual tumorigenic pluripotent stem cells and attenuates tumor formation after transplantation. J Neurochem. 2006 Jun;97(5):1467-80. Read Abstract.
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- Tran TT, Segev DL, Gupta V, Kawakubo H, Yeo G, Donahoe PK, Maheswaran S. Mullerian Inhibiting Substance regulates androgen-induced gene expression and growth in prostate cancer cells through a NFkB-dependent Smad-independent mechanism. Mol Endocrinol. 2006 Jun 1. Read Abstract.
The Harvard Stem Cell Institute is a scientific collaborative established to fulfill the promise of stem cell biology as the basis for cures and treatments for a wide range of chronic medical conditions.
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