Aging is accompanied by a decline in tissue function, regeneration, and repair. A large part of this decline is caused by the deterioration of tissue stem cell function. Understanding the mechanisms that drive stem cell aging and how to counteract them is a critical step for enhancing tissue repair and maintenance during aging. Emerging evidence indicates that epigenetic modifiers and metabolis...

Periodontal disease is a widespread disease, which without proper treatment, may lead to tooth loss in adults. Because stem cells from the inflammatory microenvironment created by periodontal disease exhibit impaired regeneration potential even under favorable conditions, it is difficult to obtain satisfactory therapeutic outcomes using traditional treatments, which only focus on the control of...

Broadly speaking, vascular regeneration includes the restoration of normal vascular function and structure, the reversal of vascular senescence, and the growth of new blood vessels. Therapeutic applications of vascular regeneration for coronary or peripheral arterial diseases are directed to relieving symptoms of ischemia; preventing target-organ damage due to hypoxia, reperfusion, or capillary...

The observation that CD45(+) stem cells injected into the circulation participate in muscle regeneration raised the question of whether CD45(+) stem cells resident in muscle play a physiological role during regeneration. We found that CD45(+) cells cultured from uninjured muscle were uniformly nonmyogenic. However, CD45(+) cells purified from regenerating muscle readily gave rise to determined ...

Melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) intimately interact with epithelial stem cells (EpSCs) in the hair follicle bulge and secondary hair germ (sHG). Together, they undergo activation and differentiation to regenerate pigmented hair. However, the mechanisms behind this coordinated stem cell behavior have not been elucidated. Here, we identified Wnt signaling as a key pathway that couples the behavior ...

Broadly speaking, vascular regeneration includes the restoration of normal vascular function and structure, the reversal of vascular senescence, and the growth of new blood vessels. Therapeutic applications of vascular regeneration for coronary or peripheral arterial diseases are directed to relieving symptoms of ischemia; preventing target-organ damage due to hypoxia, reperfusion, or capillary...

Stem cell therapies against renal injury have been advancing. The many trials for renal regeneration are reported to be effective in many kinds of renal injury models. Regarding the therapeutic mechanism, it is believed that stem cells contribute to make regeneration via not only direct stem cell differentiation in the injured space but also indirect effect via secreted factors from stem cells....

Recent progress in stem cell research is opening a new hope for cell therapy in regenerative medicine. Two breakthroughs were made in the stem cell era, one, new discoveries in multi-potentiality of adult stem cells beyond the traditionally appreciated extent, and the other, establishment of pluripotent stem cell from human embryo. In addition to the newly identified multi-potentiality of adult...