Credit: Sánchez Alvarado Lab
Planarian flatworm adult stem cells known as neoblasts can be clustered based on their gene expression profiles (left panel). A neoblast subpopulation termed Nb2 expresses the cell membrane protein TSPAN-1 (center panel, a representative Nb2 cell with TSPAN-1 protein shown in green and DNA in blue). Nb2 neoblasts can repopulate stem cell-depleted animals (right panel, representative animals at different time points after Nb2 single-cell transplants).