Meis1 Regulates Epidermal Stem Cells and Is Required for Skin Tumorigenesis

July 2014 in “ PloS one ”

Kazuhiro Okumura, Megumi Saito, Emiko Isogai, Yoshimasa Aoto, Tsuyoshi Hachiya, Yasubumi Sakakibara, Yoshihisa Katsuragi, Sachiko Hirose, Ryo Kominami, Ryo Goitsuka, Takuro Nakamura, Yuichi Wakabayashi

Meis1 epidermal stem cells hair follicles DMBA TPA tumorigenesis neoplastic transformation

TLDR Meis1 is crucial for skin health and tumor development.

The study revealed that Meis1 had dual roles in the epidermis: it was essential for maintaining epidermal homeostasis in normal tissues and acted as a proto-oncogenic factor in neoplastic tissues. Meis1 was primarily expressed in the bulge region of hair follicles, where adult stem cells reside, and its deletion in mice led to a reduction in these stem cells. Mice lacking Meis1 in their epidermis developed significantly fewer DMBA/TPA-induced tumors compared to wild-type mice, indicating Meis1's involvement in tumor development and progression. Additionally, Meis1 expression increased as tumors advanced from benign to malignant stages, and its localization shifted from stem cells to more differentiated cells in tumor tissues, suggesting a functional switch during neoplastic transformation.