Stem cells

A Review on inflammatory memory in non-immune cells of different epithelia and neurons, and the potential mechanisms controlling these epigenetic memories and their implications in human health and disease.

3D transcriptomes reveal the molecular code of lineage specification in the primate embryo and provide an in vivo reference to decipher human development.

In situ barcoding and fate mapping in mice reveals that an early wave of progenitor specification, driven by embryonic multipotent progenitor cells, gives rise to adult blood independently of haematopoietic stem cells.

Haematopoiesis has high clonal diversity up to about 65 years of age, after which diversity drops precipitously owing to positive selection acting on a handful of clones that expand exponentially throughout adulthood.

Characterization of Gibbin, encoded by AHDC1, offers insights into the epidermal and mesodermal patterning phenotypes seen in Xia–Gibbs and related syndromes in humans, which derive from abnormal mesoderm maturation as a result of gene-specific DNA methylation decisions.

Organoids originating from human multipotent ocular surface epithelial stem cells are similar to native lacrimal glands and undergo functional maturation when transplanted adjacent to the eyes of recipient rats, developing lumina and producing tear-film proteins.

Human somatic cells were reprogrammed to human chemically induced pluripotent stem cells that demonstrate key features of embryonic stem cells.

The HSC signature RUNX1⁺HOXA9⁺MLLT3⁺MECOM⁺HLF⁺SPINK2⁺ distinguishes haematopoietic stem cells from their endothelial precursors and differentiated progenitors throughout ontogeny

Spatial transcriptomics and single-cell profiling identify previously uncharacterized cell types of human terminal and respiratory bronchioles, and show that cell differentiation and lineage trajectories are distinct from those in the mouse lung.

Human respiratory bronchioles contain a unique population of secretory cells called respiratory airway secretory cells that are distinct from the cells in the larger proximal airways, and act as unidirectional progenitors for alveolar type 2 cells.

The development of a transgene-free, rapid and controllable method for producing eight-cell-like cells from human pluripotent stem cells provides a valuable resource to study early human embryogenesis.

A non-canonical tricarboxylic acid cycle is required for changes in cell state.

Haploinsufficiency in three genes associated with risk of autism spectrum disorder—KMT5B, ARID1B and CHD8—in cell lines from multiple donors results in cell-type-specific asynchronous development of GABAergic neurons and cortical deep-layer excitatory projection neurons.

The BAF chromatin-remodelling complex ATPase gene Brm safeguards cell identity during directed cardiogenesis of mouse embryonic stem cells.

Experiments in cerebral organoids show that sex hormones have a role in regulating the number of excitatory neurons in the human neocortex, providing insight into the mechanistic basis of sex-related brain differences in humans.

Blastoids derived from naive PXGL-cultured human pluripotent stem cells in which Hippo, TGF-β and ERK pathways are inhibited closely recapitulate aspects of blastocyst development, form cells resembling blastocyst-stage cells and thus provide a model system for implantation and development studies.

The single-cell transcriptional profile of a human embryo between 16 and 19 days after fertilization reveals parallels and differences in gastrulation in humans as compared with mouse and non-human primate models.

RNA-sequencing analysis of the prenatal human brain at different stages of development shows that areal transcriptional signatures are dynamic and coexist with developmental and cell-type signatures.

A rare population of acinar cells expressing telomerase reverse transcriptase renew the acinar cell compartment during homeostasis, and are potential sources of premalignant cells in pancreatic carcinogenesis.

Computational modelling and mouse genetics approaches show that multipotent progenitor cells that have the potential to populate the hepato-pancreato-biliary lineage tree persist in the pancreato-biliary organ rudiment.

An analysis of skeletal stem cells in mice reveals that bone ageing occurs at the level of local niches affecting skeletal and haematopoietic lineage output, which may influence systemic aspects of multi-organ physiological ageing.

Obesity in mice, caused by a high-fat diet, induces hair loss as a result of changes in the differentiation of hair follicle stem cells.

Live imaging and single-cell transcriptomics of mouse hair follicles reveal their development from 2D concentric zones in the placode to 3D longitudinal compartments, one of which is a stem cell compartment.

By inducing changes in surrounding tissue, mutant intestinal stem cells create an unfavourable niche environment that gives them a competitive advantage over non-mutant neighbours.

NOTUM from Apc-mutant cells acts as a key mediator during the early stages of mutation fixation and drives the formation of intestinal adenomas.

Using experiments in organoids and in vivo in mice, the authors show that Apc-mutant cells act as supercompetitors to initiate the formation of adenomas.

The levels of microRNAs in mouse and human cells control lipid metabolism and germ cell specification during development.

Stress inhibits  hair growth in mice through the release of the stress hormone corticosterone from the adrenal glands, which inhibits the activation of hair follicle stem cells by suppressing the expression of a secreted factor, GAS6, from the dermal niche.

An in vitro culture strategy enables the generation of blastocyst-like structures termed human blastoids from naive human pluripotent stem cells, providing a model for studying human embryogenesis.

Cortical organoids derived from tetraploid human–chimpanzee fused induced pluripotent stem cells provide a platform for untangling unique molecular features of human brain development.

N⁶-methyladenosine RNA and its reader YTHDC1 serve as a bridge to silencing retrotransposons through the RNA derived from these retrotransposons in mouse ES cells.

A peri-arteriolar niche in the bone marrow for osteogenesis and lymphopoiesis is maintained by mechanical stimulation and is depleted during ageing.

In a rat model of short bowel syndrome, transplantation of small intestinal organoids into the colon partially restores intestinal function and improves survival—a proof of principle that organoid transplantation might have therapeutic benefit.

A combination of fluorescent antibodies is used to build visual maps of all myeloid cells in the bone marrow, providing new insight into how the bone marrow microenvironment regulates cell-fate decisions.

Specific macrophage populations provide a transient niche that activates muscle stem cells after muscle injury and supply proliferation-inducing cues that govern the repair process mediated by these cells in both zebrafish and mouse injury models.

Primed pluripotent stem cells from distant species compete with each other, and inactivation of NF-κB signalling in normally outcompeted human cells improves their survival and chimerism in mouse embryos.

Haematopoietic stem cells show progressive functional decline with age that can be reversed by stimulation of chaperone-mediated autophagy in old mice and aged humans.

The rate of scale regeneration in zebrafish is controlled by the frequency of rhythmic travelling waves of Erk activity, which are broadcast from a central source to induce ring-like patterns of osteoblast tissue growth.

Stimulation of pain-sensing neurons, which can be achieved in mice by the ingestion of capsaicin, promotes the migration of haematopoietic stem cells from the bone marrow into the blood.

Multilayer 3D reconstitution of bladder stem cells with stromal cells enables recapitulation of the architecture and molecular functions of bladder tissue.

Eight transcription factors are identified that, when overexpressed, are sufficient to grow oocyte-like cells from mouse pluripotent stem cells.

Expression of three Yamanaka transcription factors in mouse retinal ganglion cells restores youthful DNA methylation patterns, promotes axon regeneration after injury, and reverses vision loss in a mouse model of glaucoma and in aged mice, suggesting that mammalian tissues retain a record of youthful epigenetic information that can be accessed to improve tissue function.

Depletion of TRF2—an essential mediator of telomere protection in most mammalian cells—in mouse embryonic stem cells activates a compensatory transcriptional program that renders TRF2 dispensable for their survival and proliferation.

A long-term culture method for organoids derived from single adult human lung cells is used to identify progenitor cells and study SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Analysis of 97,691 high-coverage human blood DNA-derived whole-genome sequences enabled simultaneous identification of germline and somatic mutations that predispose individuals to clonal expansion of haematopoietic stem cells, indicating that both inherited and acquired mutations are linked to age-related cancers and coronary heart disease.

Single-cell analysis of blood vessels in the alveolus, the site of chronic disease and virus-induced lung injury, reveals two intermingled endothelial cell types with specialized gas exchange and stem cell functions.

An organoid-based screening platform maps the genetic interactions underlying intestinal development and regeneration, showing that retinoic acid metabolism maintains the balance between regeneration and homeostasis, and that an antagonist of the retinoid X receptor promotes regeneration in vivo.

Single-cell transcriptomics roadmap of human dermal fibroblasts reprogrammed to primed and naive pluripotency reveals a route for the direct reprogramming of somatic cells into induced trophoblast stem cells.