PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kiger, Amy A.
AU  - Jones, D. Leanne
AU  - Schulz, Cordula
AU  - Rogers, Madolyn B.
AU  - Fuller, Margaret T.
TI  - Stem Cell Self-Renewal Specified by JAK-STAT Activation in Response to a Support Cell Cue
AID  - 10.1126/science.1066707
DP  - 2001 Dec 21
TA  - Science
PG  - 2542--2545
VI  - 294
IP  - 5551
4099  - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/294/5551/2542.short
4100  - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/294/5551/2542.full
SO  - Science2001 Dec 21; 294
AB  - Stem cells generate many differentiated, short-lived cell types, such as blood, skin, and sperm, throughout adult life. Stem cells maintain a long-term capacity to divide, producing daughter cells that either self-renew or initiate differentiation. Although the surrounding microenvironment or “niche” influences stem cell fate decisions, few signals that emanate from the niche to specify stem cell self-renewal have been identified. Here we demonstrate that the apical hub cells in the Drosophila testis act as a cellular niche that supports stem cell self-renewal. Hub cells express the ligand Unpaired (Upd), which activates the Janus kinase–signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathway in adjacent germ cells to specify self-renewal and continual maintenance of the germ line stem cell population.