Coordinated Regulation of the Balance Between Stem Cell Self-renewal and Differentiation

The generation, maintenance and repair of adult tissues and organs rely on population of stem cells. While both pluripotent and multipotent stem cells are abundantly present during embryonic development, multipotent stem cells exist in adult tissues. The stem cells possess the ability to divide symmetrically to generate produce two daughter cells identical to their mother or to undergo asymmetric divisions to produce one daughter cell that is identical to the mother cell and another differentiating progeny. In animals, both the maintenance of mitotically proliferating stem cells and differentiation is essential for the continuous replenishment of cells in tissues. Therefore, a tight balance between self-renewal and differentiation is very important to maintain tissue homeostasis. Animals have evolved regulatory mechanisms that tightly control and balance the proliferation–differentiation decision.



How stem cells preserve their unique, undifferentiated identity through many rounds of divisions? And, how their daughter cells choose and activate a differentiation program? are some of the most important questions in cell biology. The current topic aims to invite original research and review articles that will further our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms, both at the molecular and sytems level, governing stem cells mitotic division and differentiation in invertebrates and vertebrates.



For this Research Topic we welcome submissions including, but not limited to, the following:

• Conserved mechanisms of stem cell (SC) maintenance.

• Control of SCs cell division and quiescence.

• Stem cell niches and their communication with stem cells.

• Transcriptional & post-transcriptional regulation of stem cells mitotic division and differentiation.

• Germ cells; specialized stem cells.