在干细胞生物学中，如何保存从健康人或者患者身上获得的干细胞并维持其多能性是一个巨大的挑战。本文中，研究人员发现，在死后17天的人和死后14天的小鼠骨骼肌中分离的干细胞依然能够存活并维持其多能性，这一时间比之前的报道要长得多。
在尸体中，肌肉干细胞能在组织中形成富集，这说明与其它细胞相比，肌肉干细胞存在着明显的生存优势。研究人员发现，这些细胞能够进行一种可逆的休眠，其显着标志是代谢活动减慢、第一次分裂时间的滞后、活性氧簇水平升高和预活化状态的转录子减少。这种休眠对于细胞保持生存能力是至关重要的。
研究人员称，这些细胞为干细胞生物学研究提供了有用资源。（生物谷 Bioon.com ）
doi:10.1038/ncomms1890
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Skeletal muscle stem cells adopt a dormant cell state post mortem and retain regenerative capacity
Mathilde Latil, Pierre Rocheteau, Laurent Châtre, Serena Sanulli, Sylvie Mémet, Miria Ricchetti, Shahragim Tajbakhsh & Fabrice Chrétien
The accessibility to stem cells from healthy or diseased individuals, and the maintenance of their potency are challenging issues for stem cell biology. Here we report the isolation of viable and functional skeletal myogenic cells from humans up to 17 days, and mice up to 14 days post mortem, much longer beyond previous reports. Muscle stem cells are enriched in post mortem tissue, suggesting a selective survival advantage compared with other cell types. Transplantation of mouse muscle and haematopoietic stem cells regenerates tissues robustly. Cellular quiescence contributes to this cell viability where cells adopt a reversible dormant state characterized by reduced metabolic activity, a prolonged lag phase before the first cell division, elevated levels of reactive oxygen species and a transcriptional status less primed for commitment. Finally, severe hypoxia, or anoxia is critical for maintaining stem cell viability and regenerative capacity. Thus, these cells provide a useful resource for studying stem cell biology.
