Graded regulation of cellular quiescence depth between proliferation and senescence by a lysosomal dimmer switch
Oct. 22, 2019
Dr. Fan Bai published a paper in PNAS with his collaborator.
Reactivating sleep-like quiescent cells in the body (most notably stem cells) to divide is fundamental to tissue homeostasis and regeneration. Like sleep having shallow and deep stages, quiescence exhibits graded depths with different speeds and rates responding to stimulation signals. Understanding how quiescence depth is regulated is fundamental to our understanding of tissue repair and regeneration. Here we show that quiescence depth is regulated like a “dimmer switch” by lysosomes (cell organelles that break down and recycle biomolecules), through the lysosomal function of reducing oxidative stress. We developed a gene signature to predict quiescence depth and show that quiescence deepening likely represents a transition path from cell division to irreversibly arrested senescence, related to the aging process.
Original link: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/10/18/1915905116