The chromatin environment is essential for the correct specification and preservation of cell identity through modulation and maintenance of transcription patterns. Many chromatin regulators are required for development, stem cell maintenance, and differentiation. Here, we review the roles of the polycomb repressive complexes, PRC1 and PRC2, and the HDAC1- and HDAC2-containing complexes, NuRD, ...

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) also known as germ stem cells (GSCs) are the basis of spermatogenesis process in the testis. Furthermore, they are also valuable cells with different applications in developmental biology, transgenesis technology, and clinic. Understanding the new findings related to the cell and molecular biology of SSCs and the methods for isolation and maintenance of these ce...

Many tissues are sustained by adult stem cells, which replace lost cells by differentiation and maintain their own population through self-renewal. The mechanisms through which adult stem cells maintain their identity are thus important for tissue homeostasis and repair throughout life. Here, we show that a histone variant, His2Av, is required cell autonomously for maintenance of germline and c...

BACKGROUND This open-label, randomized, phase 3 study compared melphalan at a dose of 200 mg per square meter of body-surface area plus autologous stem-cell transplantation with melphalan-prednisone-lenalidomide (MPR) and compared lenalidomide maintenance therapy with no maintenance therapy in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. METHODS We randomly assigned 273 patients 65 years o...

As the molecular mechanisms that govern stem cell fate are beginning to be unraveled, Galan-Caridad et al. (2007) report in this issue of Cell a common role for the transcription factor Zfx in the self-renewal/maintenance of both embryonic stem cells and hematopoietic stem cells. Their work suggests that a regulator of self-renewal can be shared between two different cell types.