New Properties Of Skin Stem Cells

October 13, 2008

Recent research from the Swedish medical university Karolinska

Institutet reveals completely new properties of the skin's stem

cells - discoveries that contradict previous findings. The studies,

which are published in Nature Genetics, show amongst other things,

that hair follicle stem cells can divide actively and transport

themselves through the skin tissue.

" The stem cells don't behave at all in the way we'd previously

thought, and are found in unexpected places " , says Professor Rune

Toftgård, one of the scientists at Karolinska Institutet responsible

for the study. " We're now investigating the part played by the stem

cells in the wound-healing process and the development of basal cell

carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer. "

The stem cells examined by the present study are found in the skin's

hair follicles, around which the cells are able to move depending on

their stage of growth. The scientists believe that their growth is

governed by previously known mechanism called Hedgehog signalling.

Mutations in the genes that control this signal system can cause the

delayed deactivation of signal transference; the signals thus

continue uninhibited, which increases the risk of cancer.

Publication:

" Lgr5marks cycling, yet long-lived, hair follicle stem cells "

Viljar Jaks, Nick Barker, Kasper, Johan H van Es, Hugo J

Snippert, Hans Clevers, Rune Toftgård

Nature Genetics., AOP 12 October 2008, doi 10.1038/ng.239.

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