The presence of these high proliferative and plastic stem cells in the BPH tissue samples suggests that BPH could occur as a result of changes in the stem cell properties that could ultimately give rise to a clonal expansion of cell populations.
In that, the neuromast is more reminiscent to the Drosophila intestine, where Notch signaling generates plastic stem-cell niches that promote localized regeneration (Mathur et al., 2010).
A new plastic cancer stem cell theory of cancer development was suggested, based on the high heterogeneity of cancer cells within a tumor and combining two established models of cancer development and progression (the clonal evolution and cancer stem cell models [CSC]) 21.
Therefore, the terminally differentiated germ cells and highly plastic pluripotent stem cells are two critical points in the circle of life.
For this reason, the exploitation of the immuno-privileged and plastic embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is highly advantageous.
Thus, the variety and complexity of FoxO3 PTMs may be critical for the interface between extrinsic stimuli and intrinsic networks that regulate plastic phenotypes, including stem cell homeostasis, that ultimately contribute to organismal longevity.
We demonstrated that the isolated cells by adherence property to plastic surfaces are stem cells with high proliferation rate, which suggests their remarkable capacity of self-renewal and propagation.
A major limitation to the study and clinical utility of satellite cells is that upon removal from the muscle fiber and plating in traditional plastic tissue culture platforms, their muscle stem cell properties are rapidly lost.
Human DPSCs/progenitors have been identified in dental pulp tissue [ 1], and harbor the characteristics of plastic adherence and the expression of stem cell markers, such as CD29, CD90, CD44 and CD146 [ 1].
An alternative approach to induce differentiation employed electrical stimulation of hESCs via a fibronectin-coated gold nanoparticle layer on tissue culture plastic with a resultant loss of stem cell marker OCT-4 expression and enhanced expression of osteogenic markers collagen type I and Cbfa1 in contrast to unstimulated cells.
Growing cells on plastic dishes provides a simplified and adequate approach to studying the effects of isolated niche components on stem cell activity.
