Adhesion within the stem cell niches

Growing body of evidence confirms that cell–cell and cell–extracellular matrix adhesion within stem cell niches is essential for the establishment and maintenance of niche architecture, for the generation and transmission of short-distance regulatory signals, and for controlling the frequency and nature of stem cell divisions. Recent studies demonstrated that in many stem cell niches, adhesion to support cells and/or extracellular matrix determines orientation of stem cell division plane, thereby contributing to the control of stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. Thus, although further analysis of the implicated molecular mechanisms is required, cadherin-associated and integrin-associated events appear to play essential regulatory roles in tissue-specific stem cell niches.