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Abstract
<p class="first" id="P1">Adult tissue-specific stem cells are essential for homeostatic
tissue maintenance
and key to regeneration during injury repair or disease. Many critical stem cell functions
rely on the presence of well-timed cues from the microenvironment or niche, which
includes a diverse range of components, including neuronal, circulating and extracellular
matrix inputs as well as an array of neighboring niche cells directly interacting
with the stem cells. However, studies of stem cells and their niche have been challenging
due to the complexity of adult stem cell functions, their intrinsic controls and the
multiple regulatory niche components. Here, we review recent major advances in our
understanding of the complex interplay between stem cells and their niche that were
enabled by the tremendous technological leaps in single-cell transcriptome analyses,
3D
<i>in-vitro</i> cultures and 4D
<i>in-vivo</i> microscopy of stem cell niches.
</p><p id="P2">
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