| Label retention |
Fluorescent label allows isolation of label-retaining cells |
Not a feature of all adult stem cells |
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Not specific to stem cells (for example, memory B and T cells) |
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Unable to discriminate between the 'immortal strand hypothesis' and quiescence when using DNA analogues |
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In vitro culture |
Enables manipulation of stemness potential in a controlled setting |
Measures stemness potential, rather than actual stemness |
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Ideal for high-throughput studies |
No physiological context |
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Ideal for live-imaging studies |
Knowledge is required for culturing cells/tissues |
| Transplantation |
Measures stem-cell behaviour in vivo
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Measures stemness potential, rather than actual stemnessLimited physiological contextKnowledge is required for isolating rare cell populations |
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Limited physiological context |
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Knowledge is required for isolating rare cell populations |
| Lineage tracing |
Reveals in vivo stem-cell behaviour in its physiological context; actual stemness |
Actual stem cells might be limited to a subset of the marked population |
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Bicistronic knock-in with fluorescent marker allows isolation of cell population |
Interpretation is only accurate in solid tissues |
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Reproducible experimentation/readout |
Knowledge is required to find stem-cell-specific marker genes |
