Cell 175, 43–56 (2018).

Multipotent and self-renewing stem cell populations that contribute to skeletal formation and response to injury are identified in humans.

The precise identity and hierarchical organization of the nonhematopoietic stem cells that give rise to diverse skeletal tissue, such as bone, cartilage and stroma, has remained elusive, particularly in humans.

Mouse skeletal stem cells have previously been described. Now, researchers from Stanford Medicine describe a skeletal stem cell population isolated from human bone that is defined by a set of cell surface markers. When transplanted into rodents, these human skeletal stem cells exhibit self-renewal, possess multipotent potential to generate diverse skeletal tissues and undergo expansion in response to bone injury.