From stem cell to progenitor and back again.
Under normal homeostatic conditions, tissue stem cells undergo long-term self renewal and produce progeny that differentiate into several different cell types. But what happens if the stem cells are lost? In a recent issue of Developmental Cell, Nakagawa et al. (2007) propose that the progeny of stem cells, called transit-amplifying progenitor cells, are able to replace lost stem cells.
Simon
András
A
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Medical Nobel Institute, Karolinska Institute, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Frisén
Jonas
J
D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012038:Regeneration; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation