scholarly journals Tracing epithelial stem cells during development, homeostasis, and repair

2012 ◽  
Vol 197 (5) ◽  
pp. 575-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Van Keymeulen ◽  
Cédric Blanpain

Epithelia ensure many critical functions of the body, including protection against the external environment, nutrition, respiration, and reproduction. Stem cells (SCs) located in the various epithelia ensure the homeostasis and repair of these tissues throughout the lifetime of the animal. Genetic lineage tracing in mice has allowed the labeling of SCs and their progeny. This technique has been instrumental in characterizing the origin and heterogeneity of epithelial SCs, their tissue location, and their differentiation potential under physiological conditions and during tissue regeneration.

Author(s):  
Wanbo Tang ◽  
Jian He ◽  
Tao Huang ◽  
Zhijie Bai ◽  
Chaojie Wang ◽  
...  

In the aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM) region of mouse embryos, pre-hematopoietic stem cells (pre-HSCs) are generated from rare and specialized hemogenic endothelial cells (HECs) via endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition, followed by maturation into bona fide hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). As HECs also generate a lot of hematopoietic progenitors not fated to HSCs, powerful tools that are pre-HSC/HSC-specific become urgently critical. Here, using the gene knockin strategy, we firstly developed an Hlf-tdTomato reporter mouse model and detected Hlf-tdTomato expression exclusively in the hematopoietic cells including part of the immunophenotypic CD45– and CD45+ pre-HSCs in the embryonic day (E) 10.5 AGM region. By in vitro co-culture together with long-term transplantation assay stringent for HSC precursor identification, we further revealed that unlike the CD45– counterpart in which both Hlf-tdTomato-positive and negative sub-populations harbored HSC competence, the CD45+ E10.5 pre-HSCs existed exclusively in Hlf-tdTomato-positive cells. The result indicates that the cells should gain the expression of Hlf prior to or together with CD45 to give rise to functional HSCs. Furthermore, we constructed a novel Hlf-CreER mouse model and performed time-restricted genetic lineage tracing by a single dose induction at E9.5. We observed the labeling in E11.5 AGM precursors and their contribution to the immunophenotypic HSCs in fetal liver (FL). Importantly, these Hlf-labeled early cells contributed to and retained the size of the HSC pool in the bone marrow (BM), which continuously differentiated to maintain a balanced and long-term multi-lineage hematopoiesis in the adult. Therefore, we provided another valuable mouse model to specifically trace the fate of emerging HSCs during development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 98 (10) ◽  
pp. 1066-1072 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Yianni ◽  
P.T. Sharpe

Cells have been identified in postnatal tissues that, when isolated from multiple mesenchymal compartments, can be stimulated in vitro to give rise to cells that resemble mature mesenchymal phenotypes, such as odontoblasts, osteoblasts, adipocytes, and myoblasts. This has made these adult cells, collectively called mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), strong candidates for fields such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Based on evidence from in vivo genetic lineage–tracing studies, pericytes have been identified as a source of MSC precursors in vivo in multiple organs, in response to injury or during homeostasis. Questions of intense debate and interest in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative studies include the following: 1) Are all pericytes, irrespective of tissue of isolation, equal in their differentiation potential? 2) What are the mechanisms that regulate the differentiation of MSCs? To gain a better understanding of the latter, recent work has utilized ChIP-seq (chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing) to reconstruct histone landscapes. This indicated that for dental pulp pericytes, the odontoblast-specific gene Dspp was found in a transcriptionally permissive state, while in bone marrow pericytes, the osteoblast-specific gene Runx2 was primed for expression. RNA sequencing has also been utilized to further characterize the 2 pericyte populations, and results highlighted that dental pulp pericytes are already precommitted to an odontoblast fate based on enrichment analysis indicating overrepresentation of key odontogenic genes. Furthermore, ChIP-seq analysis of the polycomb repressive complex 1 component RING1B indicated that this complex is likely to be involved in inhibiting inappropriate differentiation, as it localized to a number of loci of key transcription factors that are needed for the induction of adipogenesis, chondrogenesis, or myogenesis. In this review, we highlight recent data elucidating molecular mechanisms that indicate that pericytes can be tissue-specific precommitted MSC precursors in vivo and that this precommitment is a major driving force behind MSC differentiation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. E610-E619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Onur Basak ◽  
Teresa G. Krieger ◽  
Mauro J. Muraro ◽  
Kay Wiebrands ◽  
Daniel E. Stange ◽  
...  

The adult mouse subependymal zone provides a niche for mammalian neural stem cells (NSCs). However, the molecular signature, self-renewal potential, and fate behavior of NSCs remain poorly defined. Here we propose a model in which the fate of active NSCs is coupled to the total number of neighboring NSCs in a shared niche. Using knock-in reporter alleles and single-cell RNA sequencing, we show that the Wnt target Tnfrsf19/Troy identifies both active and quiescent NSCs. Quantitative analysis of genetic lineage tracing of individual NSCs under homeostasis or in response to injury reveals rapid expansion of stem-cell number before some return to quiescence. This behavior is best explained by stochastic fate decisions, where stem-cell number within a shared niche fluctuates over time. Fate mapping proliferating cells using a Ki67iresCreER allele confirms that active NSCs reversibly return to quiescence, achieving long-term self-renewal. Our findings suggest a niche-based mechanism for the regulation of NSC fate and number.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 2217-2246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingjuan He ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
Xiuzhen Huang ◽  
Yi Li ◽  
Wenjuan Pu ◽  
...  

2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjuan Pu ◽  
Bin Zhou

AbstractThe liver has remarkable capability to regenerate, employing mechanism to ensure the stable liver-to-bodyweight ratio for body homeostasis. The source of this regenerative capacity has received great attention over the past decade yet still remained controversial currently. Deciphering the sources for hepatocytes provides the basis for understanding tissue regeneration and repair, and also illustrates new potential therapeutic targets for treating liver diseases. In this review, we describe recent advances in genetic lineage tracing studies over liver stem cells, hepatocyte proliferation, and cell lineage conversions or cellular reprogramming. This review will also evaluate the technical strengths and limitations of methods used for studies on hepatocyte generation and cell fate plasticity in liver homeostasis, repair and regeneration.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amritha Yellamilli ◽  
Yi Ren ◽  
Ron T. McElmurry ◽  
Jonathan P. Lambert ◽  
Polina Gross ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe adult mammalian heart has a limited regenerative capacity. Therefore, identification of endogenous cells and mechanisms that contribute to cardiac regeneration is essential for the development of targeted regenerative therapies. The side population (SP) phenotype enriches for stem cells throughout the body, and SP cells have been identified in the heart. We generated a novel Abcg2-driven, genetic lineage-tracing mouse model and show efficient labeling of SP cells. Labeled SP cells give rise to terminally differentiated cells in bone marrow and intestines. In the heart, we find that Abcg2-expressing SP cells contribute to cardiomyocyte labeling, which is further enhanced in response to different forms of cardiac injury. We find that cardiac SP cells fuse with preexisting cardiomyocytes, which stimulates cardiomyocyte cell cycle entry and likely proliferation, instead of directly differentiating into cardiomyocytes. Our findings provide evidence that cardiac SP cells contribute to endogenous cardiac regeneration through cardiomyocyte fusion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin-Ze Tian ◽  
Sheng Xing ◽  
Jing-Yi Feng ◽  
Shu-Hua Yang ◽  
Yan-Fu Ding ◽  
...  

AbstractIn the adult pancreas, the presence of progenitor or stem cells and their potential involvement in homeostasis and regeneration remains unclear. Here, we identify that SET domain-containing protein 4 (SETD4), a histone lysine methyltransferase, is expressed in a small cell population in the adult mouse pancreas. Genetic lineage tracing shows that during pancreatic development, descendants of SETD4+ cells make up over 70% of pancreatic cells and then contribute to each pancreatic lineage during pancreatic homeostasis. SETD4+ cells generate newborn acinar cells in response to cerulein-induced pancreatitis in acinar compartments. Ablation of SETD4+ cells compromises regeneration of acinar cells, in contrast to controls. Our findings provide a new cellular narrative for pancreatic development, homeostasis and response to injury via a small SETD4+ cell population. Potential applications may act to preserve pancreatic function in case of pancreatic disease and/or damage.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin C. Winkler ◽  
Luuli N. Tran ◽  
Ellyn P. Milan ◽  
Fernando García-Moreno ◽  
Santos J. Franco

In the developing nervous system, progenitors first generate neurons before making astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. We previously showed that increased Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling in dorsal forebrain progenitors is important for their production of oligodendrocytes as neurogenesis winds down. Here, we analyzed single-cell RNA sequencing datasets to better understand how Shh controls this neuron-to-oligodendrocyte switch in the neocortex. We first identified Shh-responding progenitors using a dataset in which Shh was overexpressed in the mouse dorsal forebrain. Pseudotime trajectory inferences revealed a subpopulation committed to the oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) lineage. Genes upregulated along this lineage defined a pre-OPC state, as cells transitioned from progenitors to OPCs. Using several datasets from wild-type mouse and human embryos at different ages, we confirmed a pre-OPC state preceding OPC emergence during normal development. Finally, we show that pre-OPCs are enriched for a gene regulatory network involving the transcription factor Ascl1. Genetic lineage-tracing demonstrated Ascl1+ dorsal progenitors primarily make oligodendrocytes. We propose a model in which Shh shifts the balance between opposing transcriptional networks toward an Ascl1 lineage, thereby facilitating the switch between neurogenesis and oligodendrogenesis.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document