Decoding stem cells: An overview on planarian stem cell heterogeneity and lineage progression

M. Dolores Molina, Francesc Cebrià

Research output: Indexed journal article Reviewpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Planarians are flatworms capable of whole-body regeneration, able to regrow any missing body part after injury or amputation. The extraordinary regenerative capacity of planarians is based upon the presence in the adult of a large population of somatic pluripotent stem cells. These cells, called neoblasts, offer a unique system to study the process of stem cell specification and differentiation in vivo. In recent years, FACS-based isolation of neoblasts, RNAi functional analyses as well as high-throughput approaches such as single-cell sequencing have allowed a rapid progress in our understanding of many different aspects of neoblast biology. Here, we summarize our current knowledge on the molecular signatures that define planarian neoblasts heterogeneity, which includes a percentage of truly pluripotent stem cells, and guide the commitment of pluripotent ne-oblasts into lineage-specific progenitor cells, as well as their differentiation into specific planarian cell types.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1532
Number of pages23
JournalBiomolecules
Volume11
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Differentiation
  • Neoblasts
  • Piwi
  • Planarian
  • Progenitors
  • Regeneration
  • Schmidtea mediterranea
  • Specification
  • Stem cells

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