Multipotent stem cells articles from across Nature Portfolio

Extravillous trophoblasts are pivotal in placental invasion and artery remodeling. Here the authors report stage-specific transcriptional regulators and their sequential roles in guiding proper trophoblast differentiation.

Invasive extravillous trophoblast cells are a key feature of placentation and successful pregnancy. Here, the authors identify transcription factors and regulatory mechanisms critical for extravillous trophoblast cell lineage development.

An in vitro method can expand and bank retinal progenitor cells from hiPSC-derived retinal organoids, representing a potential source of retinal cells for future cell-based therapies or drug discovery models.

In this work Naama et al. describe and deeply characterize a direct approach to produce human induced trophoblast stem cells from fibroblasts and show that it produces superior hiTSCs when compared to OSKM-hiTSCs.

Thermogenic adipose tissue is a metabolic sink for excess fuel and is a promising target for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, hurdles exist in activating thermogenic adipose tissue in humans. A new study developed a drug screening platform utilizing human beige adipose tissue and identified non-canonical activators.

Tendons have limited regenerative potential, and injuries often cause scarring. A study now identifies a tendon stem cell population that contributes to regeneration and a tendon fibro–adipogenic progenitor population involved in fibrosis.

The cellular origins of angiomyolipoma and other tuberous sclerosis complex-associated neoplasms are unknown. Now, two studies show that these neoplasms derive from cancer stem cells that originate from multipotent renal epithelial cells. The new findings provide a link between stemness and tumorigenesis in the kidney.