Germline sex determination regulates sex-specific signaling between germline stem cells and their niche.

Establishing germ cell sexual identity is critical for development of male and female germline stem cells (GSCs) and production of sperm or eggs. Germ cells depend on signals from the somatic gonad to determine sex, but in organisms such as flies, mice, and humans, the sex chromosome genotype of the germ cells is also important for germline sexual development. How somatic signals and germ-cell-intrinsic cues combine to regulate germline sex determination is thus a key question.

Fibroblast growth factor 6 regulates sizing of the muscle stem cell pool.

Skeletal muscle stem cells, i.e., satellite cells (SCs), are the essential source of new myonuclei for skeletal muscle regeneration following injury or chronic degenerative myopathies.

Correction: Generation and selection of pluripotent stem cells for robust differentiation to insulin-secreting cells capable of reversing diabetes in rodents.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Generation and selection of pluripotent stem cells for robust differentiation to insulin-secreting cells capable of reversing diabetes in rodents.

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology enables the creation and selection of pluripotent cells with specific genetic traits. This report describes a pluripotent cell line created specifically to form replacement pancreatic cells as a therapy for insulin-dependent diabetes. Beginning with primary pancreatic tissue acquired through organ donation, cells were isolated, re-programmed using non-integrating vectors and exposed to a four day differentiation protocol to generate definitive endoderm, a developmental precursor to pancreas.

Myofiber-specific TEAD1 overexpression drives satellite cell hyperplasia and counters pathological effects of dystrophin deficiency.

When unperturbed, somatic stem cells are poised to affect immediate tissue restoration upon trauma. Yet, little is known regarding the mechanistic basis controlling initial and homeostatic 'scaling' of stem cell pool sizes relative to their target tissues for effective regeneration. Here, we show that TEAD1-expressing skeletal muscle of transgenic mice features a dramatic hyperplasia of muscle stem cells (i.