Telescope Model for Coordinated Organ Morphogenesis and Stem Cell Formation
hair follicle stem cells 3D live imaging single-cell transcriptomics cellular dynamics cell lineages transcriptome changes mouse hair follicles cylindrical compartments concentric ring-shaped cell pre-patterns hair follicle placode peripheral ring compartment suprabasal cells tissue morphogenesis cell fate specification epithelial cell lineages stem cells 3D imaging transcriptomics cell dynamics gene expression changes mouse hair cylindrical structures ring-shaped patterns hair placode outer ring compartment upper layer cells tissue development cell fate skin cell types
TLDR Developing hair follicles form from ring-shaped patterns, with future stem cells originating from the outer ring, not the upper layers, as previously thought.
The study elucidates the developmental process of hair follicle stem cells using a combination of long-term 3D live imaging and single-cell transcriptomics, resulting in a dynamic 4D atlas of cellular dynamics, cell lineages, and transcriptome changes in developing mouse hair follicles. The findings reveal that hair follicles develop through cylindrical compartments formed from concentric ring-shaped cell pre-patterns in the hair follicle placode. Future hair follicle stem cells originate from the peripheral ring compartment of the placode, not from previously suggested suprabasal cells. This developmental process, termed the "telescope model," explains the spatiotemporal coordination of tissue morphogenesis and cell fate specification during the formation of 3D cylindrical compartments consisting of various epithelial cell lineages, including stem cell lineages.
