Metabolic Regulation of Stem Cell Behavior, Function and Aging

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cellular Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 6048

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Guest Editor
School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Interests: vascular and metabolic biology; stem cell biology; cardiovascular regeneration; healthy diet; atherosclerosis
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The metabolic properties of stem cells are linked to stem cell behaviour in the laboratory and in the animal's physiological milieu in vivo. Stem cell function is frequently hampered by their in vitro maintenance. Understanding the metabolic regulatory pathways that impact stem cell metabolism will be crucial for the laboratory maintenance and multiplication of stem cells for therapeutic applications.

Moreover, stem cell aging has recently become the subject of intensive investigation. There is growing evidence that metabolic signal pathways play a significant role in the aging process. Anabolic signalling has been shown to accelerate the aging process, while the pharmaceutical manipulation of metabolic pathways has been shown to lengthen the lifetime of organisms. In addition, new research reveals that cellular metabolic pathways can modify epigenetic states and that these changes might influence organismal aging and lifespan. Recent studies indicate that nutrient-sensing pathways affect stem cell behaviour, providing a mechanism to influence life span.

Furthermore, aging is linked to a decrease in tissue regeneration, which leads to a rise in degenerative illness and cancer. Throughout our lives, stem cells maintain tissue homeostasis by rebuilding damaged or destroyed cells and tissues. In several tissues, including blood, skin, brain, and skeletal muscle, stem cell activity diminishes with age. Thus, identifying stem cell aging regulators is critical for public health since such regulators may contribute to healthy aging and act as effective therapeutic targets in the battle against aging diseases, such as cancers and Parkinson's disease.

This Special Issue is a forum that will collate a collection of original research articles, reviews, and communications covering any topics related to the metabolic regulation of stem cell behaviour, function, and aging. 

Prof. Dr. Wing Tak Jack Wong
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • metabolic regulation
  • stem cell behaviour
  • stem cell function
  • stem cell aging

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

32 pages, 3539 KiB  
Review
Emerging Role of Autophagy in Governing Cellular Dormancy, Metabolic Functions, and Therapeutic Responses of Cancer Stem Cells
by Meenakshi Tiwari, Pransu Srivastava, Sabiya Abbas, Janani Jegatheesan, Ashish Ranjan, Sadhana Sharma, Ved Prakash Maurya, Ajit Kumar Saxena and Lokendra Kumar Sharma
Cells 2024, 13(5), 447; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13050447 - 4 Mar 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2660
Abstract
Tumors are composed of heterogeneous populations of dysregulated cells that grow in specialized niches that support their growth and maintain their properties. Tumor heterogeneity and metastasis are among the major hindrances that exist while treating cancer patients, leading to poor clinical outcomes. Although [...] Read more.
Tumors are composed of heterogeneous populations of dysregulated cells that grow in specialized niches that support their growth and maintain their properties. Tumor heterogeneity and metastasis are among the major hindrances that exist while treating cancer patients, leading to poor clinical outcomes. Although the factors that determine tumor complexity remain largely unknown, several genotypic and phenotypic changes, including DNA mutations and metabolic reprograming provide cancer cells with a survival advantage over host cells and resistance to therapeutics. Furthermore, the presence of a specific population of cells within the tumor mass, commonly known as cancer stem cells (CSCs), is thought to initiate tumor formation, maintenance, resistance, and recurrence. Therefore, these CSCs have been investigated in detail recently as potential targets to treat cancer and prevent recurrence. Understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in CSC proliferation, self-renewal, and dormancy may provide important clues for developing effective therapeutic strategies. Autophagy, a catabolic process, has long been recognized to regulate various physiological and pathological processes. In addition to regulating cancer cells, recent studies have identified a critical role for autophagy in regulating CSC functions. Autophagy is activated under various adverse conditions and promotes cellular maintenance, survival, and even cell death. Thus, it is intriguing to address whether autophagy promotes or inhibits CSC functions and whether autophagy modulation can be used to regulate CSC functions, either alone or in combination. This review describes the roles of autophagy in the regulation of metabolic functions, proliferation and quiescence of CSCs, and its role during therapeutic stress. The review further highlights the autophagy-associated pathways that could be used to regulate CSCs. Overall, the present review will help to rationalize various translational approaches that involve autophagy-mediated modulation of CSCs in controlling cancer progression, metastasis, and recurrence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolic Regulation of Stem Cell Behavior, Function and Aging)
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24 pages, 1563 KiB  
Review
A Wrong Fate Decision in Adipose Stem Cells upon Obesity
by Yiu-Ming Cheung, Chui-Yiu-Bamboo Chook, Hoi-Wa Yeung, Fung-Ping Leung and Wing-Tak Wong
Cells 2023, 12(4), 662; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12040662 - 19 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2895
Abstract
Progress has been made in identifying stem cell aging as a pathological manifestation of a variety of diseases, including obesity. Adipose stem cells (ASCs) play a core role in adipocyte turnover, which maintains tissue homeostasis. Given aberrant lineage determination as a feature of [...] Read more.
Progress has been made in identifying stem cell aging as a pathological manifestation of a variety of diseases, including obesity. Adipose stem cells (ASCs) play a core role in adipocyte turnover, which maintains tissue homeostasis. Given aberrant lineage determination as a feature of stem cell aging, failure in adipogenesis is a culprit of adipose hypertrophy, resulting in adiposopathy and related complications. In this review, we elucidate how ASC fails in entering adipogenic lineage, with a specific focus on extracellular signaling pathways, epigenetic drift, metabolic reprogramming, and mechanical stretch. Nonetheless, such detrimental alternations can be reversed by guiding ASCs towards adipogenesis. Considering the pathological role of ASC aging in obesity, targeting adipogenesis as an anti-obesity treatment will be a key area of future research, and a strategy to rejuvenate tissue stem cell will be capable of alleviating metabolic syndrome. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolic Regulation of Stem Cell Behavior, Function and Aging)
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