Berlin 2018 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 5: Systems Biology & Gene Expression and Signalling
BP 5.4: Talk
Monday, March 12, 2018, 15:45–16:00, H 1028
Self-organised homeostasis of stem cells through competition for mitogens — Yu Kitadate1,2, •David J. Jörg3,4, Benjamin D. Simons3,4,5, and Shosei Yoshida1,2 — 1Division of Germ Cell Biology, National Institute for Basic Biology, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Okazaki, Japan — 2Department of Basic Biology, School of Life Science, Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Sokendai), Okazaki, Japan — 3Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom — 4The Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, UK — 5The Wellcome Trust/Medical Research Council Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, UK
How stem cell populations self-organise to control their density and maintain robust homeostasis is in many cases still elusive. Especially challenging to understand are facultative niche environments, in which stem cells lie dispersed among their progeny and only sporadically make contact with signal-releasing regions. How do such stem cells sense and control their density over large distances? We conjecture that stem cells compete for a limited supply of mitogens: by adjusting their fate behaviour according to the local mitogen abundance, a constant cell density is maintained throughout the tissue. Using the murine germ line as an example, we developed a theoretical model that quantitatively captures both the key features of stem cell density regulation and the regeneration kinetics after injury. This ``mitogen competition model'' provides a generic and robust mechanism of self-organised stem cell homeostasis in a facultative niche.