Montagna Symposium 2015: Harnessing Stem Cells to Reveal Novel Skin Biology and Disease Treatments

April 2016 in “ Journal of Investigative Dermatology ”

Valerie Horsley, Molly Kulesz‐Martin, Xiao Jing Wang

TLDR The symposium showed that stem cells are key for understanding and treating skin diseases and for developing new skin models and therapies.

The 64th annual Montagna Symposium on the Biology of the Skin in 2015 highlighted the importance of stem cells in skin biology and the treatment of skin diseases. Key topics included the plasticity of melanocyte stem cells in melanoma progression, the controversial existence of cancer stem cells in melanoma, and the regulatory roles of RNAs and genetic/epigenetic factors in stem cell activity. The symposium also discussed the potential of stem cell-based therapies for skin diseases like RDEB and the creation of three-dimensional skin models for pharmaceutical uses. Markus Schober emphasized the heterogeneity of tumor cells and targeting TGF-B1 in chemotherapy, while Takahiro Kunisada and Sarah Millar presented on melanocyte niche establishment and the role of Wnt10a in epithelial progenitor cell proliferation, respectively. Additional talks covered hair follicle stem cell specification and the impact of ceramide on skin homeostasis. The event also focused on career development and concluded with advice on resilience and diversification in research funding and job searching.

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