The distinguishing feature of adult stem cells is their extraordinary capacity to divide prior to the onset of senescence. While stratified epithelia such as skin, prostate, and breast are highly regenerative and account disproportionately for human cancers, genes essential for the proliferative capacity of their stem cells remain unknown. Here we analyze p63, a gene whose deletion in mice results in the catastrophic loss of all stratified epithelia. We demonstrate that p63 is strongly expressed in epithelial cells with high clonogenic and proliferative capacity and that stem cells lacking p63 undergo a premature proliferative rundown. Additionally, we show that p63 is dispensable for both the commitment and differentiation of these stem cells during tissue morphogenesis. Together, these data identify p63 as a key, lineage-specific determinant of the proliferative capacity in stem cells of stratified epithelia.
Pubmed ID: 17482546 RIS Download
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Software tool for automated microscope acquisition, device control, and image analysis. Used for integrating dissimilar fluorescent microscope hardware and peripherals into a single custom workstation, while providing all the tools needed to perform analysis of acquired images. Offers user friendly application modules for analysis such as cell signaling, cell counting, and protein expression.
View all literature mentionsPowerful, accessible statistical tools for fast visualization and analysis of microarrays - expression arrays, miRNA, exon arrays and genomics copy number data.
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