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The nature of stem cells: state rather than entity

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 5, pages 873–878 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Stem cells are endowed with self-renewal and multipotential differentiation capacities. Contrary to the expectation that stem cells would selectively express specific genes, these cells have a highly promiscuous gene-expression pattern. Here, I suggest that the transient stem cell state, termed the 'stem state', may be assumed by any cell and that the search for specific genes expressed by all stem cells, which would characterize the stem cell as a cell type, might be futile.

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Figure 1: Gene-expression patterns as a function of transition from a stem-cell to a maturing-cell state.
Figure 2: Options for transition between renewal and differentiation.
Figure 3: The stem state.
Figure 4: Molecular signature of the stem state.

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Acknowledgements

The author is supported by the Gabrielle Rich Center for Transplantation Biology and by research grants from the Minerva Foundation, Michael Krasny, Daniel and Rhonda Shapiro, Jerrald and Helene Wulff and the Isabelle and Leonard Goldenson Association. The author wishes to thank Ayelet Laron and Vered Morad for their valuable comments on the manuscript. D.Z. is an incumbent of the Joe and Celia Weinstein Professorial Chair at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Cell Biology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel

    Dov Zipori

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  1. Dov Zipori
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DATABASES

Entrez

Leukaemia inhibitory factor

STAT3

FURTHER INFORMATION

Zipori's web page

Glossary

CYTOKINES

A group of proteins that form a dynamic network of intercellular messenger molecules that regulate various aspects of physiology, including the immune response to infection.

ENDOTHELIAL CELLS

Flattened cells that grow in a single layer and line blood vessels.

G0 PHASE

The resting phase of the cell cycle.

HAEMATOPOIETIC

Pertaining to the formation of blood and blood cells.

MACROPHAGES

Phagocytic cells that respond to non-self material (for example, bacteria, protozoa or tumour cells) to release substances that stimulate other cells of the immune system. They are also involved in antigen presentation and are derived from monocytes, which circulate in the blood.

MESENCHYME

Motile, loosely organized unpolarized cells that do not form firm cell–cell contacts and have a proteoglycan-rich extracellular matrix.

MONOCYTES

Large white blood cells involved in the first line of immune defence and in the inflammatory process.

STROMATA

Connective tissue that is made up of cells, such as fibroblasts, and matrix, such as collagen, and forms the supportive organ microenvironment

T CELLS

Lymphoid-derived white blood cells that are responsible for cell-mediated immunity.

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Zipori, D. The nature of stem cells: state rather than entity. Nat Rev Genet 5, 873–878 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1475

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