IPLS Seminar - Professor Ben Simons (University of Cambridge)

Title: Dynamical stem cell heterogeneity

Abstract: Lineage tracing studies based on inducible genetic labeling have emphasized a central role for stochasticity in the maintenance and regeneration of cycling adult tissues, with frequent stem cell loss through differentiation compensated by the duplication of neighbors, leading to the consolidation of clonal diversity. Through the combination of long-term genetic lineage tracing assays with short-term in vivo live-imaging, the cellular basis for stochastic stem cell loss and replacement has begun to be resolved. With a focus on mammalian spermatogenesis and intestinal maintenance, we review the role of "dynamical heterogeneity" in the regulation of adult stem cell self-renewal.

Host: Prof Andy Oates (aoates@nimr.mrc.ac.uk)