Mechanisms of niche – stem cell unit origin and maintenance (A11)

干细胞生态位是维持已报道的动植物干细胞种群中干细胞数量的关键。尽管干细胞-生态位相互作用在干细胞生物学中具有重要作用，但对于体细胞和生态位在器官形成过程中如何聚集在一起，人们知之甚少。在之前的资助期间，我们使用神经肥大，即鱼类侧线系统的感觉器官，作为一个最小的模型来探索器官发生过程中的生态位与干细胞的相互作用。我们现在将利用这一系统，通过将我们在4D成像和谱系分析方面的专业知识与获取新的RNAseq数据相结合，在分子水平上解决生态位形成问题，以确定在动态平衡和扰动条件下对生态位诱导和维持至关重要的分子决定因素。

The stem cell niche is key to maintain stemness in every stem cell population reported in plants and animals. Despite the essential function of stem cell - niche interaction in stem cell biology, little is known about how somatic stem cells and niche get together during organ formation. In the previous funding period, we used neuromasts, sensory organs of the lateral line system in fish, as a minimal model to explore niche-stem cell interaction during organogenesis. We will now exploit this system to address niche formation at the molecular level by combining our expertise in 4D imaging and lineage analysis with the acquisition of new RNAseq data, to identify molecular determinants critical for niche induction and maintenance during homeostasis and perturbed conditions.