Human Epidermal Neural Crest Stem Cells as Candidates for Cell-Based Therapies, Disease Modeling, and Drug Discovery

The review discussed the potential of human epidermal neural crest stem cells (hEPI-NCSC) for use in translational medicine. These multipotent somatic stem cells, derived from the embryonic neural crest, are found in the bulge of hair follicles and can be easily isolated and expanded ex vivo. hEPI-NCSC do not form tumors in vivo and can differentiate into various clinically relevant cell types. These properties make them promising candidates for cell-based therapies, drug discovery, and disease modeling.