Foxc1 reinforces quiescence in self-renewing hair follicle stem cells

FOXC1 maintains the hair follicle stem cell niche and governs stem cell quiescence to preserve long-term tissue-regenerating potential.

Adult tissue stem cells (SCs) reside in niches, which orchestrate SC behavior. SCs are typically used sparingly and exist in quiescence unless activated for tissue growth. Whether parsimonious SC use is essential to conserve long-term tissue-regenerating potential during normal homeostasis remains poorly understood. Here, we examine this issue by conditionally ablating a key transcription facto...

SnapShot: Hair Follicle Stem Cells

Gab1 and Mapk Signaling Are Essential in the Hair Cycle and Hair Follicle Stem Cell Quiescence.

Gab1 is a scaffold protein that acts downstream of receptor tyrosine kinases. Here, we produced conditional Gab1 mutant mice (by K14- and Krox20-cre) and show that Gab1 mediates crucial signals in the control of both the hair cycle and the self-renewal of hair follicle stem cells. Remarkably, mutant hair follicles do not enter catagen, the destructive phase of the hair cycle. Instead, hair foll...

Hair Follicle Reconstruction and Stem Cells

De novo hair follicle (HF) formation in embryonic skin and hair growth in postnatal skin are the result of epithelial-mesenchymal interactions between specialized mesenchymal dermal papilla (DP) and epithelial stem cells that give rise to hairs. Adult HF is a valuable source of different lineages of stem cells (SCs) with morphogenetic potential. Epithelial stem cells are residing in the special...

The pluripotency of hair follicle stem cells.

The hair follicle bulge area is an abundant, easily accessible source of actively growing, pluripotent adult stem cells. Nestin, a protein marker for neural stem cells, is also expressed in follicle stem cells as well as their immediate differentiated progeny. The nestin-expressing hair follicle stem cells differentiated into neurons, glial cells, keratinocytes and smooth muscle cells in vitro....