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STEM CELLS

Equal opportunities in stemness

Tissue renewal requires proliferative progenitors with long-lasting potential. Designated stem cells within specialized niches are considered to be the primary mechanism for this requirement. Recent studies show that dispersed equipotent progenitors are sufficient to account for fast-paced cellular dynamics in skin oil glands and foetal gut epithelium.

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Fig. 1: Equipotency and designated stem cells as complementary strategies for lineage maintenance.

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Correspondence to Qing Nie or Maksim V. Plikus.

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Nie, Q., Plikus, M.V. Equal opportunities in stemness. Nat Cell Biol 21, 921–923 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-019-0366-6

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