Epidermal Homeostasis: A Balancing Act of Stem Cells in the Skin

Lgr5 is a marker for active, long-lasting stem cells in mouse hair follicles.

This study found that DNA strand segregation in multipotent hair follicle stem cells occurs randomly during development and tissue homeostasis, challenging the immortal strand hypothesis.

This study found that activating β-catenin signaling in embryonic epidermis promoted hair follicle characteristics at the expense of normal epidermal differentiation, leading to early pigmentation and innervation.

This study found that Notch signalling promotes differentiation of epidermal cells and acts as a tumour suppressor in the skin by interacting with various pathways and mechanisms.

NFATc1 controls hair stem cell activity, affecting hair growth and could be a target for hair loss treatments.

This study found that Myc activation in epidermal stem cells leads to chromatin modifications that promote stem cell exit and differentiation, which can be influenced by HDAC inhibitors like trichostatin A.

Hair follicles can regrow in wounded adult mouse skin using a process like embryo development.

This article reviews the biology of epithelial stem cells and their role in tissue self-renewal, maintenance, and regeneration, and it highlights the clinical implications of understanding their signaling pathways, but it presents no new clinical findings.

This study found that active BMP signaling prevents epithelial stem cell activation and expansion in hair follicles, while its inhibition leads to HF stem/progenitor cell overproduction and matricomas.

This study identified a novel MTS24-positive murine keratinocyte population with increased colony-forming ability, suggesting these cells may serve as a new reservoir of proliferative progenitor or stem cells in hair follicles.

This study found that rat whisker follicle stem cells can be expanded in culture and transplanted to form functional hair follicles, demonstrating their multipotency and potential for regenerative medicine.

This study developed molecular signatures for dermal papilla cells and their niche, uncovering novel signaling regulators and genes linked to hair disorders, which may inform future hair development research.

This study found that stabilized beta-catenin is crucial for activating stem cell transition from quiescence to proliferation in hair follicles by influencing gene expression within the stem cell niche.

This study found that continuous β-catenin signaling in adult mouse epidermis can reprogram hair follicles to form benign tumors, which regress after the signaling is discontinued.

This study found that BMP receptor IA is crucial for hair progenitor cell differentiation in mice, and its sequential inhibition and activation are necessary to generate a functioning hair shaft.

This study concluded that label-retaining cells in mouse epidermis differ in their sensitivity to proliferative stimuli, influencing their division and potential transdifferentiation without consistently depleting their population.

This study found that the BMP antagonist noggin induces hair growth in postnatal skin by neutralizing BMP4's inhibitory activity, potentially mediated by changes in Shh expression.

This study found that Tcf3 and Lef1 differently regulate cell differentiation in multipotent skin stem cells, with Tcf3 promoting follicle-like features and Lef1, when modified, promoting sebocyte differentiation.

This study found that transient activation of c-Myc in transgenic mice stimulates keratinocyte proliferation and sebocyte differentiation, affecting normal epidermal and hair follicle development.

This study demonstrated that multipotent stem cells in adult mice whisker follicles migrate to produce whisker growth, and that this process requires precise control of stem cell trafficking.

This study found that LEF1/TCF3 is necessary but not sufficient for TOPGAL activation in hair follicle development, indicating complex regulation in the skin.

In this study, researchers found that bulge cells in mouse hair follicles undergo transient proliferation during early anagen, indicating their role as follicular stem cells. However, another factor beyond dermal papilla proximity may be required to initiate a new anagen phase.