Hot topics in stem cells and self‐renewal: 2010

In many tissues, mammalian aging is associated with a decline in the replicative and functional capacity of somatic stem cells and other self‐renewing compartments. Understanding the basis of this decline is a major goal of aging research. In particular, therapeutic approaches to ameliorate or reverse the age‐associated loss of stem function could be of use in clinical geriatrics. Such approaches include attempts to protect stem cells from age‐promoting damage, to ‘rejuvenate’ stem cells through the use of pharmacologic agents that mitigate aging‐induced alterations in signaling, and to replace lost stem cells through regenerative medicine approaches. Some headway has been made in each of these arenas over the last 18 months including advances in the production of donor‐specific totipotent stem cells through induced pluripotency (iPS), gains in our understanding of how tumor suppressor signaling is controlled in self‐renewing compartments to regulate aging, and further demonstration of extracellular ‘milieu’ factors that perturb stem cell function with age. This period has also been marked by the recent award of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for elucidation of telomeres and telomerase, a topic of critical importance to stem cell aging.