Research on adult stem cells has recently generated a great deal of excitement. Somatic stem cells have been found in many human tissues; notwithstanding a low abundance in adult, their role is to sustain the function of an organ despite its physiological wear and tear or aging and to allow the regeneration in disease or injury. Our increasing ability to identify and isolate tissue-specific stem cells and the comprehension of mechanisms controlling their self-renewal and differentiation in vitro and in vivo offer possibility of replenishing cells damaged by disease, exploited by regenerative medicine. Intriguingly, blood and bone marrow-derived multipotent stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells, even though they are relatively numerous and easy to isolate and propagate, have not yet proved clinically successful in reconstituting cells in adult human organs. Possibly, tissue-specific biological cues that determine the fate of adult stem cells and committed progenitors in normal and pathological conditions pose limits to cell plasticity and differentiation in vivo.

Hence, our understanding of adult tissue-specific stem cell biology can provide the basis for experimental and therapeutical tissue regeneration. While this knowledge is expanding, the abundance and ever growing number of original research articles, which always pose new questions rather than yield conclusive answers, are a call for the need to summarize information and gather the perspective necessary to focus the interests and direct future scientific efforts towards the clinical application. The ultimate goal of such action would be to provide both basic science and clinical researchers in different stages of their career with the multidisciplinary platform for expanding their understanding of tissue and organ biology and how best to implement organ regenerative potential in clinical practice.

For this purpose, we invite authors to submit comprehensive and concise review articles summarizing the current notion of tissue regeneration and reporting up-to-date knowledge on topics related to tissue-specific stem cells in adult organs, such as the heart, lung, liver, intestine, kidney, brain, or skin.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Histological identification and localization of stem cells within organ
• Cellular and molecular characteristics of adult stem cells and their microenvironment
• Factors regulating somatic stem cell fate and differentiation
• Isolation, propagation, characterization, and maturation of adult stem cells in vitro
• Application of knowledge related to tissue-specific adult stem cells to human disease and therapy