Premium
Epidermal stem cells: location, potential and contribution to cancer
Author(s) -
Ambler CA,
Määttä A
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/path.2468
Subject(s) - stem cell , biology , cancer stem cell , progenitor cell , wnt signaling pathway , microbiology and biotechnology , hedgehog , population , cancer research , signal transduction , medicine , environmental health
Epidermal stem cells have been classically characterized as slow‐cycling, long‐lived cells that reside in discrete niches in the skin. Gene expression studies of niche‐resident cells have revealed a number of stem cell markers and regulators, including the Wnt/β‐catenin, Notch, p63, c‐Myc and Hedgehog pathways. A new study challenges the traditional developmental paradigm of slow‐cycling stem cells and rapid‐cycling transit amplifying cells in some epidermal regions, and there is mounting evidence to suggest that multi‐lineage epidermal progenitors can be isolated from highly proliferative, non‐niche regions. Whether there is a unique microenvironment surrounding these progenitors remains to be determined. Interestingly, cancer stem cells derived from epidermal tumours exist independent of the classic skin stem cell niche, yet also have stem cell properties, including multi‐lineage differentiation. This review summarizes recent studies identifying the location and regulators of mouse and human epidermal stem cells and highlights the strategies used to identify cancer stem cells, including expression of normal epidermal stem cell markers, expression of cancer stem cell markers identified in other epidermal tumours and characterization of side‐population tumour cells. Copyright © 2008 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.