| Title |
Epidermal Neural Crest Stem Cells (EPI-NCSC) and Pluripotency
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Stem Cell Reviews and Reports, August 2008
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s12015-008-9042-0 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Maya Sieber-Blum, Yaofei Hu |
| Abstract |
This article serves three purposes. We summarize current knowledge of the origin and characteristics of EPI-NCSC, review their application in a mouse model of spinal cord injury, and we present new data that highlight aspects of pluripotency of EPI-NCSC. EPI-NCSC are multipotent stem cells, which are derived from the embryonic neural crest and are located in the bulge of hair follicles. EPI-NCSC can undergo self-renewal and they are able to generate all major neural crest derivatives, including neurons, nerve supporting cells, smooth muscle cells, bone/cartilage cells and melanocytes. Despite their ectodermal origin, neural crest cells can also generate cell types that typically are derived from mesoderm. We were therefore interested in exploring aspects of EPI-NCSC pluripotency. We here show that EPI-NCSC can fuse with adult skeletal muscle fibers and that incorporated EPI-NCSC nuclei are functional. Furthermore, we show that adult skeletal muscle represents an environment conducive to long-term survival of neurogenic EPI-NCSC. Genes used to create induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are present in our EPI-NCSC longSAGE gene expression library. Here we have corroborated this notion by real-time PCR. Our results show similarities in the expression of Myc, Klf4, Sox2 and Lin28 genes between EPI-NCSC and embryonic stem cells (ESC). In contrast there were major differences in Nanog and Pou5f1 (Oct-4) expression levels between EPI-NCSC and ESC, possibly explaining why EPI-NCSC are not tumorigenic. Overall, as embryonic remnants in an adult location EPI-NCSC show several attractive characteristics for future cell replacement therapy and/or biomedical engineering: Due to their ability to migrate, EPI-NCSC can be isolated as a highly pure population of multipotent stem cells by minimally-invasive procedures. The cells can be expanded in vitro into millions of stem cells/progenitors and they share some characteristics with pluripotent stem cells without being tumorigenic. Since the patients' own EPI-NCSC could be used for autologous transplantation, this would avoid graft rejection. |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 79 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 3 | 4% |
| United States | 3 | 4% |
| Uruguay | 1 | 1% |
| Germany | 1 | 1% |
| Japan | 1 | 1% |
| Netherlands | 1 | 1% |
| Unknown | 69 | 87% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 21 | 27% |
| Researcher | 19 | 24% |
| Student > Master | 11 | 14% |
| Student > Bachelor | 7 | 9% |
| Professor > Associate Professor | 5 | 6% |
| Other | 12 | 15% |
| Unknown | 4 | 5% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 34 | 43% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 14 | 18% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 14 | 18% |
| Neuroscience | 7 | 9% |
| Engineering | 2 | 3% |
| Other | 3 | 4% |
| Unknown | 5 | 6% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 04 February 2013.
All research outputs
#8,535,472
of 25,374,647 outputs
Outputs from Stem Cell Reviews and Reports
#401
of 1,036 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#34,582
of 94,526 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Stem Cell Reviews and Reports
#2
of 6 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,374,647 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 43rd percentile – i.e., 43% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,036 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.4. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 50% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 94,526 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 17th percentile – i.e., 17% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 6 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than 4 of them.