Hair follicle stem cell progeny heal blisters while pausing skin development
June 2021
in “EMBO reports”
TLDR When skin blisters, healing the wound is more important than growing hair, and certain stem cells mainly fix the blisters without helping hair growth.
The study "Hair follicle stem cell progeny heal blisters while pausing skin development" found that hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) are crucial in healing skin blisters. When skin is injured, it prioritizes healing over development, as shown by the healing of blisters suppressing tissue morphogenesis genes and delaying hair follicle growth. The progeny of hair follicle junctional zone stem cells are primarily responsible for repairing the blisters, while not promoting hair follicle development. The study also found that when most hair follicles are detached from the dermis, the interfollicular epidermis can compensate and repair defects. The research involved multiple biological replicates, with the exact number varying depending on the specific experiment. The findings could lead to tailored therapeutic interventions for blistering diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa and pemphigoid diseases.
View this study on embopress.org →
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