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Tissue-specific designs of stem cell hierarchies

Nature Cell Biology volume 18, pages 349–355 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Recent work in the field of stem cell biology suggests that there is no single design for an adult tissue stem cell hierarchy, and that different tissues employ distinct strategies to meet their self-renewal and repair requirements. Stem cells may be multipotent or unipotent, and can exist in quiescent or actively dividing states. 'Professional' stem cells may also co-exist with facultative stem cells, which are more specialized daughter cells that revert to a stem cell state under specific tissue damage conditions. Here, we discuss stem cell strategies as seen in three solid mammalian tissues: the intestine, mammary gland and skeletal muscle.

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Figure 1: Schematic structures of the small intestine, mammary epithelial tree and skeletal muscle, and the location of their stem cells.
Figure 2: Schematic models of stem cell hierarchies in the small intestine, mammary gland and skeletal muscle.
Figure 3: A general model depicting the hierarchical organization of tissue-specific stem and progenitor cells.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. Maltezos (WEHI, Melbourne, Australia) for assistance with figure preparation. J.E.V. is supported by a NHMRC Australia Fellowship, and thanks the NHMRC IRIISS, Australian Cancer Research Foundation and National Breast Cancer Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jane E. Visvader is in the Stem Cells and Cancer Division, and the Department of Medical Biology, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia,

    Jane E. Visvader

  2. Hans Clevers is at the Hubrecht Institute-KNAW (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences), 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands, and the University Medical Center Utrecht, Cancer Genomics Netherlands, 3584 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands,

    Hans Clevers

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Correspondence to Jane E. Visvader or Hans Clevers.

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Visvader, J., Clevers, H. Tissue-specific designs of stem cell hierarchies. Nat Cell Biol 18, 349–355 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb3332

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