Spatiotemporal regulation of multipotency during prostate development

The prostate is formed by a branched glandular epithelium composed of basal cells (BCs) and luminal cells (LCs). Multipotent and unipotent stem cells (SCs) mediate the initial steps of prostate development whereas BCs and LCs are self-sustained in adult mice by unipotent lineage-restricted SCs. The spatiotemporal regulation of SC fate and the switch from multipotency to unipotency remain poorly characterised. Here, by combining lineage tracing, whole-tissue imaging, clonal analysis and proliferation kinetics, we uncover the cellular dynamics that orchestrate prostate postnatal development in mouse. We found that at an early stage of development multipotent basal SCs are located throughout the epithelium and are progressively restricted at the distal tip of the ducts, where, together with their progeny, they establish the different branches and the final structure of prostate. In contrast, pubertal development is mediated by unipotent lineage-restricted SCs. Our results uncover the spatiotemporal regulation of the switch from multipotency to unipotency during prostate development.