Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) represent a unique population of germ cells with self-renewal potential. Although reactive oxygen species (ROS) are considered toxic to germ cells, we recently showed that moderate levels of ROS are required for SSC self-renewal and that Nox1 is involved in ROS generation. In this study, we showed that self-renewal factor treatment induces Nox3 to trigger SSC se...

BMP signaling is essential for promoting self-renewal of mouse embryonic stem cells and Drosophila germline stem cells and for repressing stem cell proliferation in the mouse intestine and skin. However, it remains unknown whether BMP signaling can promote self-renewal of adult somatic stem cells. In this study, we show that BMP signaling is necessary and sufficient for promoting self-renewal a...

Stem cells (SC) exhibit a unique capacity for self-renewal in an undifferentiated state. It is unclear whether the self-renewal of pluripotent embryonic SC (ESC) and of tissue-specific adult SC such as hematopoietic SC (HSC) is controlled by common mechanisms. The deletion of transcription factor Zfx impaired the self-renewal but not the differentiation capacity of murine ESC; conversely, Zfx o...

Background Urban renewal has become an important issue in Hong Kong, which is experiencing considerable population growth pressures and urban decay in various districts. Ho et al. [1] noted that urban renewal often creates not only environmental problems such as demolition waste, but also social problems such as destruction of existing social networks and the fabric of long-established communit...