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Title: WHAT CONTROLS STEM CELL DEVELOPMENT-- CELL POTENTIAL OR LOCAL ENVIRONMENT?

Author
item HAKIM, RAY - HOWARD UNIV WDC
item Loeb, Marcia
item YOUNG, J - HOWARD UNIV WDC

Submitted to: In Vitro Cellular And Developmental Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/5/2004
Publication Date: 4/5/2004
Citation: Hakim, R.S., Loeb, M.J., Young, J. 2004. What controls stem cell development-- cell potential or local environment? . In Vitro Cellular And Developmental Biology.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In H. virescens, as in M. sexta and other lepidoptera, midgut development proceeds through the sequential proliferation and differentiation of the midgut stem cells. In larvae,the stem cells repeatedly differentiatiate to goblet, columnar, and to a lesser extent endocrine cells of the midgut; a reserve population of stem cells are retained for the next molt, and for supporting cell differentiation in midgut repair. In H. virescens, during the prepupal, or last larval molt, the stem cells differentiate instead to a simple cuboidal epithelium with a characteristic vesiculate cytoplasm, and a brush border. Larval epithelium is eliminated in the gut lumen. Adult epithelial cells, of similar height, but narrower presumably form from differentiation of similar stem cells during the pre-adult molt. These observations are of particular interest when one considers the capabilities of stem cells in culture. Stem cell cultures derived from larval midgut appear to replicate the in vivo stem cell capabilities to form larval goblet and columnar cells when fed MDF larval cell-derived midgut differentiation factors (MDFs I-IV) and fat body extract. While there may be some limited variation in cell type, such as columnar cells that appear unusually short and wide or closed or open dorsal regions, they are clearly recognizable. Using media derived from prepupal cultures containing other differentiation factor(s), not yet purified, pupal and adult cells have been unambiguously identified. Vertebrate growth factors have induced in our cultured stem cells to produce a much wider variety of cell types than seen previously, both in larval midgut cultures or in sections of epidermal epithelium; These observations support the hypothesis that stem cells will differentiate in vivo based on the local environment, although they retain a much wider range of developmental potential.