This means that stem cells can maintain their own population by self-renewal while continually being able to generate specialized cells that replenish tissues and organs. ![]() ![]() This process is made possible by adult stem cells, which can divide to produce more stem cells (via a process called self-renewal) or specialize into other types of cells. To maintain healthy tissues and organs in adult animals, the cells that die or become damaged need to be replaced. These findings reveal novel mechanisms of incisor renewal and illustrate how gene co-expression analysis of intact biological systems can provide insights into the transcriptional basis of cellular identity. We further discovered that two adjacent mesenchymal tissues, the periodontium and dental pulp, are maintained by distinct pools of stem cells. Through in vivo lineage tracing, we demonstrated the power of this approach by showing that co-expression module members Lrig1 and Igfbp5 define populations of incisor epithelial and mesenchymal stem cells. Using the adult mouse incisor as a model for a continuously renewing organ, we performed an unbiased analysis of gene co-expression relationships to identify modules of co-expressed genes that represent differentiated cells, transit-amplifying cells, and residents of stem cell niches. Investigations into stem cell-fueled renewal of an organ benefit from an inventory of cell type-specific markers and a deep understanding of the cellular diversity within stem cell niches.
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