Dietary Regulation of Adult Stem Cells

Abstract

Purpose of review Dietary intake is a critical regulator of organismal physiology and health. Tissue homeostasis and regeneration are dependent on adult tissue stem cells that self-renew and differentiate into the specialized cell types. As stem cells respond to cues from their environment, dietary signals and nutrients influence tissue biology by altering the function and activity of adult stem cells. In this review, we highlight recent studies that illustrate how diverse diets such as caloric restriction, fasting, high fat diets, and ketogenic diets impact stem cell function and their microenvironments. Recent findings Caloric restriction generally exerts positive effects on adult stem cells, notably increasing stem cell functionality in the intestine and skeletal muscle as well as increasing hematopoietic stem cell quiescence. Similarly, fasting confers protection of intestinal, hematopoietic, and neuronal stem cells against injury. High fat diets induce intestinal stem cell niche independence and stem-like properties in intestinal progenitors, while high fat diets impair hematopoiesis and neurogenesis. Summary Caloric restriction and fasting are generally beneficial to adult stem cell function, while high fat diets impair stem cell function or create opportunities for tumorigenesis. However, the effects of each diet on stem cell biology are complex and vary greatly between tissues. Given the recent interest in developing dietary interventions or mimetics as therapeutics, further studies, including on ketogenic diets, will be essential to understand how adult stem cells respond to diet-induced signals and physiology.

Lipid Mediated Regulation of Adult Stem Cell Behavior

“…Many studies have investigated how diet impacts the behavior of adult stem cells (Mana et al, 2017). HFD models in animals have been used to better understand the interplay between Western diets, which contain an excess of saturated fats, and the development of obesity and metabolic disorders (Wang and Liao, 2012).…”

“…Stem cell behavior is influenced by the integration of cell-intrinsic factors, extrinsic cues provided by the local microenvironment (or "niche") and systemic factors (Voog and Jones, 2010). Furthermore, the capacity of stem cells to self-renew or differentiate can be attributed to distinct metabolic states and it is now becoming apparent that metabolism plays instructive roles in stem cell fate decisions (Ito and Suda, 2014;Chandel et al, 2016;Folmes and Terzic, 2016;Mana et al, 2017;Shyh-Chang and Ng, 2017).…”

Quiescence: Good and Bad of Stem Cell Aging

“…Interestingly, the response to nutrient availability influences stem cell and organism aging. DR is the most well-documented intervention that can increase the health-and lifespan across various animal models (for review see [74]). However, in nonhuman primates the effects of DR are less clear than results in simpler organisms.…”

Philosophy of Nutrition: Past-Future Nutrition

“…Diet has a profound effect on tissue regeneration in various organisms and has beneficial effects on low-caloric conditions such as intermittent fasting, loss of organ health, and agerelated tissue function [35,36].…”