Stromal progenitors are found in many different tissues, where they play an important role in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis owing to their ability to differentiate into parenchymal cells. These progenitor cells are differentially pre-programmed by their tissue microenvironment but, when cultured and stimulated in vitro, these cells — commonly referred to as mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) — exhibit a marked plasticity to differentiate into many different cell lineages. Loss-of-function studies in vitro and in vivo have uncovered the involvement of specific signalling pathways and key transcriptional regulators that work in a sequential and coordinated fashion to activate lineage-selective gene programmes. Recent advances in omics and single-cell technologies have made it possible to obtain system-wide insights into the gene regulatory networks that drive lineage determination and cell differentiation. These insights have important implications for the understanding of cell differentiation, the contribution of stromal cells to human disease and for the development of cell-based therapeutic applications.

基质祖细胞存在于许多不同的组织中，由于它们能够分化为实质细胞，因此在维持组织稳态方面发挥着重要作用。这些祖细胞由其组织微环境进行差异化预编程，但在体外培养和刺激时，这些细胞——通常称为间充质基质细胞 (MSC)——表现出显着的可塑性，可以分化成许多不同的细胞谱系。体外和体内功能丧失研究揭示了特定信号通路和关键转录调节因子的参与，它们以顺序和协调的方式工作以激活谱系选择性基因程序。组学和单细胞技术的最新进展使得获得对驱动谱系确定和细胞分化的基因调控网络的全系统洞察成为可能。这些见解对于理解细胞分化、基质细胞对人类疾病的贡献以及基于细胞的治疗应用的发展具有重要意义。