TY - JOUR TI - Stem cells repurpose proliferation to contain a breach in their niche barrier AU - Lay, Kenneth AU - Yuan, Shaopeng AU - Gur-Cohen, Shiri AU - Miao, Yuxuan AU - Han, Tianxiao AU - Naik, Shruti AU - Pasolli, H Amalia AU - Larsen, Samantha B AU - Fuchs, Elaine A2 - Horsley, Valerie A2 - Bronner, Marianne E VL - 7 PY - 2018 DA - 2018/12/06 SP - e41661 C1 - eLife 2018;7:e41661 DO - 10.7554/eLife.41661 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.41661 AB - Adult stem cells are responsible for life-long tissue maintenance. They reside in and interact with specialized tissue microenvironments (niches). Using murine hair follicle as a model, we show that when junctional perturbations in the niche disrupt barrier function, adjacent stem cells dramatically change their transcriptome independent of bacterial invasion and become capable of directly signaling to and recruiting immune cells. Additionally, these stem cells elevate cell cycle transcripts which reduce their quiescence threshold, enabling them to selectively proliferate within this microenvironment of immune distress cues. However, rather than mobilizing to fuel new tissue regeneration, these ectopically proliferative stem cells remain within their niche to contain the breach. Together, our findings expose a potential communication relay system that operates from the niche to the stem cells to the immune system and back. The repurposing of proliferation by these stem cells patch the breached barrier, stoke the immune response and restore niche integrity. KW - stem cell signaling KW - Regulatory T cells KW - immune-stem cell interactions KW - sensing tissue damage KW - cell-cell adhesion JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -