MIPS Seminar: Airway basal stem cells reutilize the embryonic proliferation regulator, Tgfβ-Id2 axis, for tissue regeneration

Hirofumi Kiyokawa, MD PhD, Postdoctoral Associate, Center for Regenerative Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine

The proliferative state of tissue stem cells is strictly regulated to maintain the tissue structures depending on the different stages in their lifetime, from development, where stem cell progenitors are proliferative to contribute to tissue growth, to homeostasis, where tissue stem cells need to be quiescent to avoid pathological conditions such as hyperplasia. However, it remains unknown how proliferative modes (proliferative vs. slow-cycling/quiescent) of a stem cell population are precisely regulated during the lifetime. In this study, we identified a common molecular mechanism regulating the transitions of airway basal cell stem cells between proliferative vs. slow-cycling/quiescent states in both development and tissue regeneration by conducting time-series transcriptomic analyses in combination with lineage tracing, mouse genetics, and organoid culture.