Open AccessConcise Review: Conceptualizing Paralogous Stem‐Cell Niches and Unfolding Bone Marrow Progenitor Cell Identities
Author(s) -
Chen Kevin G.,
Johnson Kory R.,
McKay Ronald D.G.,
Robey Pamela G.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
stem cells
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.159
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1549-4918
pISSN - 1066-5099
DOI - 10.1002/stem.2711
Subject(s) - biology , stem cell , progenitor cell , bone marrow , microbiology and biotechnology , haematopoiesis , hematopoietic stem cell , stromal cell , ecological niche , mesenchymal stem cell , regenerative medicine , immunology , cancer research , ecology , habitat
Lineage commitment and differentiation of skeletal stem cells/bone marrow stromal cells (SSCs/BMSCs, often called bone marrow‐derived “mesenchymal stem/stromal” cells) offer an important opportunity to study skeletal and hematopoietic diseases, and for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Currently, many studies in this field have relied on cell lineage tracing methods in mouse models, which have provided a significant advancement in our knowledge of skeletal and hematopoietic stem‐cell niches in bone marrow (BM). However, there is a lack of agreement in numerous fundamental areas, including origins of various BM stem‐cell niches, cell identities, and their physiological roles in the BM. In order to resolve these issues, we propose a new hypothesis of “paralogous” stem‐cell niches (PSNs); that is, progressively altered parallel niches within an individual species throughout the life span of the organism. A putative PSN code seems to be plausible based on analysis of transcriptional signatures in two representative genes that encode Nes ‐GFP and leptin receptors, which are frequently used to monitor SSC lineage development in BM. Furthermore, we suggest a dynamic paralogous BM niche (PBMN) model that elucidates the coupling and uncoupling mechanisms between BM stem‐cell niches and their zones of active regeneration during different developmental stages. Elucidation of these PBMNs would enable us to resolve the existing controversies, thus paving the way to achieving precision regenerative medicine and pharmaceutical applications based on these BM cell resources. S tem C ells 2018;36:11–21