Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 11, 2025

Spatial and Temporal Control of Murine Melanoma Initiation from Mutant Melanocyte Stem Cells
Published on: June 7, 2019
Quiescence and aging of melanocyte stem cells and a novel association with programmed death-ligand 1
Joseph W Palmer1, Kyrene M Villavicencio1, Misgana Idris1
1Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Abstract:
Cellular quiescence is a reversible and tightly regulated stem cell function essential for healthy aging. However, the elements that control quiescence during aging remain poorly defined. Using melanocyte stem cells (McSCs), we find that stem cell quiescence is neither passive nor static. For example, gene expression profiling of the transition from proliferating melanoblasts to quiescent melanocyte stem cells reveals tissue-specific regulation of the immune checkpoint protein PD-L1. In vitro, quiescence assays demonstrate that PD-L1 expression is a physiological attribute of quiescence in this cell lineage and reinforces this cell state. In vivo, a subset of quiescent McSCs is marked by PD-L1. While the overall number of McSCs decreases with age, PD-L1+ McSCs appear resistant to depletion. This phenomenon coincides with an aged McSC pool that exhibits a deeper transcriptomic quiescence. We predict that quiescent PD-L1+ stem cells retained with age may serve as cellular targets for reactivation.
More Related Videos
13:59A Quantitative Measurement of Reactive Oxygen Species and Senescence-associated Secretory Phenotype in Normal Human Fibroblasts During Oncogene-induced Senescence
Published on: August 12, 2018
12:16Patient Derived Cell Culture and Isolation of CD133+ Putative Cancer Stem Cells from Melanoma
Published on: March 13, 2013
Related Concept Videos
Abnormal Proliferation
Multipotency of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
The Intrinsic Apoptotic Pathway
Renewal of Skin Epidermal Stem Cells
Stem Cell Niche
Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells