All Publications

  • Identification and specification of the mouse skeletal stem cell. Cell Chan, C. K., Seo, E. Y., Chen, J. Y., Lo, D., McArdle, A., Sinha, R., Tevlin, R., Seita, J., Vincent-Tompkins, J., Wearda, T., Lu, W., Senarath-Yapa, K., Chung, M. T., Marecic, O., Tran, M., Yan, K. S., Upton, R., Walmsley, G. G., Lee, A. S., Sahoo, D., Kuo, C. J., Weissman, I. L., Longaker, M. T. 2015; 160 (1-2): 285-298

    Abstract

    How are skeletal tissues derived from skeletal stem cells? Here, we map bone, cartilage, and stromal development from a population of highly pure, postnatal skeletal stem cells (mouse skeletal stem cells, mSSCs) to their downstream progenitors of bone, cartilage, and stromal tissue. We then investigated the transcriptome of the stem/progenitor cells for unique gene-expression patterns that would indicate potential regulators of mSSC lineage commitment. We demonstrate that mSSC niche factors can be potent inducers of osteogenesis, and several specific combinations of recombinant mSSC niche factors can activate mSSC genetic programs in situ, even in nonskeletal tissues, resulting in de novo formation of cartilage or bone and bone marrow stroma. Inducing mSSC formation with soluble factors and subsequently regulating the mSSC niche to specify its differentiation toward bone, cartilage, or stromal cells could represent a paradigm shift in the therapeutic regeneration of skeletal tissues.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.cell.2014.12.002

    View details for PubMedID 25594184

  • Clonal precursor of bone, cartilage, and hematopoietic niche stromal cells PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Chan, C. K., Lindau, P., Jiang, W., Chen, J. Y., Zhang, L. F., Chen, C., Seita, J., Sahoo, D., Kim, J., Lee, A., Park, S., Nag, D., Gong, Y., Kulkarni, S., Luppen, C. A., Theologis, A. A., Wan, D. C., DeBoer, A., Seo, E. Y., Vincent-Tompkins, J. D., Loh, K., Walmsley, G. G., Kraft, D. L., Wu, J. C., Longaker, M. T., Weissman, I. L. 2013; 110 (31): 12643-12648

    Abstract

    Organs are composites of tissue types with diverse developmental origins, and they rely on distinct stem and progenitor cells to meet physiological demands for cellular production and homeostasis. How diverse stem cell activity is coordinated within organs is not well understood. Here we describe a lineage-restricted, self-renewing common skeletal progenitor (bone, cartilage, stromal progenitor; BCSP) isolated from limb bones and bone marrow tissue of fetal, neonatal, and adult mice. The BCSP clonally produces chondrocytes (cartilage-forming) and osteogenic (bone-forming) cells and at least three subsets of stromal cells that exhibit differential expression of cell surface markers, including CD105 (or endoglin), Thy1 [or CD90 (cluster of differentiation 90)], and 6C3 [ENPEP glutamyl aminopeptidase (aminopeptidase A)]. These three stromal subsets exhibit differential capacities to support hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem and progenitor cells. Although the 6C3-expressing subset demonstrates functional stem cell niche activity by maintaining primitive hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) renewal in vitro, the other stromal populations promote HSC differentiation to more committed lines of hematopoiesis, such as the B-cell lineage. Gene expression analysis and microscopic studies further reveal a microenvironment in which CD105-, Thy1-, and 6C3-expressing marrow stroma collaborate to provide cytokine signaling to HSCs and more committed hematopoietic progenitors. As a result, within the context of bone as a blood-forming organ, the BCSP plays a critical role in supporting hematopoiesis through its generation of diverse osteogenic and hematopoietic-promoting stroma, including HSC supportive 6C3(+) niche cells.

    View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.1310212110

    View details for PubMedID 23858471