Hallmarks of stemness in mammalian tissues.

All adult tissues experience wear and tear. Most tissues can compensate for cell loss through the activity of resident stem cells. Although the cellular maintenance strategies vary greatly between different adult (read: postnatal) tissues, the function of stem cells is best defined by their capacity to replace lost tissue through division. We discuss a set of six complementary hallmarks that are key enabling features of this basic function. These include longevity and self-renewal, multipotency, transplantability, plasticity, dependence on niche signals, and maintenance of genome integrity. We discuss these hallmarks in the context of some of the best-understood adult stem cell niches.

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Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of interests H.C. and J.B. are inventors on patents held by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences that cover organoid technology. H.C. is currently head of pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) at Roche, Basel, Switzerland. H.C.’s full disclosure is given at https://www.uu.nl/staff/JCClevers/.