Abstract
New insights have been added to identification, behavior and cellular properties of embryonic and tissue-specific stem cells over the last few years. The modes of stem cell division, asymmetric vs. symmetric, are tightly regulated during development and regeneration. The proper choice of a stem cell to divide asymmetrically or symmetrically has great consequences for development and disease because inappropriate asymmetric division disrupts organ morphogenesis, whereas uncontrolled symmetric division induces tumorigenesis. Therefore, understanding the behavior of lung stem cells could identify innovative solutions for restoring normal morphogenesis and/or regeneration of different organs. In this concise review, we describe recent studies in our laboratory about the mode of division of lung epithelial stem cells. We also compare asymmetric cell division (ACD) in the lung stem cells with other tissues in different organisms.
Highlights
There are two types of cell division in different organisms: symmetric and asymmetric
CONCLUDING REMARKS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS Much insight into different mechanisms that are necessary to generate cellular diversity and maintain stem cells have been demonstrated by several recent studies that focused on asymmetric cell division (ACD) across various species and in multiple stem cell systems
Studies using invertebrate model systems such as Drosophila have identified the importance of several extrinsic signals and intrinsic factors in stem cell division pattern and provided paradigms for how both these signals and factors act to specify asymmetric divisions
Summary
The modes of stem cell division, asymmetric vs symmetric, are tightly regulated during development and regeneration. The proper choice of a stem cell to divide asymmetrically or symmetrically has great consequences for development and disease because inappropriate asymmetric division disrupts organ morphogenesis, whereas uncontrolled symmetric division induces tumorigenesis. Understanding the behavior of lung stem cells could identify innovative solutions for restoring normal morphogenesis and/or regeneration of different organs. In this concise review, we describe recent studies in our laboratory about the mode of division of lung epithelial stem cells. We compare asymmetric cell division (ACD) in the lung stem cells with other tissues in different organisms
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