The stem-cell niche as an entity of action

DT Scadden - nature, 2006 - nature.com
nature, 2006nature.com
Listen to an interview with David Scadden on the stem cells podcast 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 …
Abstract
Listen to an interview with David Scadden on the stem cells podcast
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.
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