Specific In Vivo Ablation of Lrig1-Positive Follicular Stem Cells Results in Sebaceous Gland Loss in Mice
TLDR Removing Lrig1-positive stem cells in mice causes temporary loss of sebaceous glands.
The study demonstrated that the ablation of Lrig1-positive stem cells in mice led to a complete but reversible loss of sebaceous glands (SGs), with atrophy beginning 14 days post-treatment and near-total recovery occurring after 6 months. Despite the loss of SGs, hair growth and the bulge region remained unaffected. The findings highlighted the crucial role of Lrig1-positive stem cells in SG maintenance, as cells from other epidermal compartments that repopulated the SG space expressed keratin1, indicating they could not differentiate into SG lineage. This underscored the importance of the Lrig1-positive niche for proper SG morphogenesis.
