Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Jul 26, 2015; 7(6): 922-944
Published online Jul 26, 2015. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v7.i6.922
Stem cell autotomy and niche interaction in different systems
David C Dorn, August Dorn
David C Dorn, Department of Hematology, Hemostasis, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany
August Dorn, Institute of Zoology, Johannes Gutenberg University, 55099 Mainz, Germany
Author contributions: Dorn DC and Dorn A contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: David C Dorn has not received fees for serving as a speaker. David C Dorn has only received research funding from the state and his home institution. David C Dorn is solely an employee of his home institution. David C Dorn owns no stocks and/or shares. David C Dorn owns patents to: (1) Synthesis of epothilones, intermediates thereto, analogues and uses thereof, patent number: 7384964; (2) Migrastatin analogs in the treatment of cancer, patent number: 8957056; (3) Isomigrastatin analogs in the treatment of cancer, patent number: 8188141.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. David C Dorn, MD, Department of Hematology, Hemostasis, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany. ddorn_1999@yahoo.com
Telephone: +49-511-94085270 Fax: +49-511-5328041
Received: July 20, 2014
Peer-review started: July 20, 2014
First decision: October 14, 2014
Revised: March 30, 2015
Accepted: May 26, 2015
Article in press: May 27, 2015
Published online: July 26, 2015
Processing time: 377 Days and 12.1 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: A new mode of stem cell-niche interaction has been observed in insects. Male germline stem cells (GSCs) undergo autotomy by serial segregation of vesicles from finger-like projections. These vesicles either accumulate at the niche surface or are phagocytized by the niche cells. Autotomized projections are apparently replaced by newly sprouting ones. It is suggested that the unprecedented dynamics of GSC autotomy are involved in a not yet known form of information exchange between GSCs and niche. Apoptotic pathways and autodestruction programs could be involved in GSC autotomy.