Skin stem cells articles from across Nature Portfolio

Vitiligo is an autoimmune condition that results in skin depigmentation due to melanocyte loss, but the root causes are not well understood. Here they identify sexual dimorphism in melanocyte stem cells behavior arising from distinct skin inflammatory responses, and propose Prostaglandin E2 as a potential therapy for depigmentation conditions.

Autologous serum- and feeder-free cultured epithelium showcases comparable efficacy, increased safety over serum- and feeder-dependent epithelium, revealing the role of LAMB3+ keratinocytes and ZNF90+ fibroblasts in vitiligo.

This protocol describes a reproducible and reliable method for excisional skin wound healing assays in mice. The use of lineage-tracing assays to investigate the contribution of different cell populations to the repair process is also discussed.

Contractile activity of both the epithelium and underlying mesenchyme are required for epithelial deformation and cell fate acquisition during early mouse hair follicle development. Subsequently, localized basement membrane remodelling facilitates the release of tension-generated pressure to promote cell divisions, tissue fluidification and downgrowth of the developing hair follicle.

Pioneer transcription factors bind closed chromatin regions, alter local accessibility and activate target genes. A study reveals that the SOX9 transcription factor drives cell fate switching by activating hair follicle cell enhancers, while simultaneously repressing epidermal enhancers via sequestration of epigenetic factors.

A new study collaboratively delivered by Valentina Greco’s and Smita Krishnaswamy’s labs provides new insight into patterns of calcium signalling in epithelial tissues using intravital imaging of the basal layer of the mouse epidermis.

Contraction of the hair follicle-lining dermal sheath smooth muscle generates the forces necessary for the tissue remodelling that takes place during the regression phase of the hair growth cycle. This study reveals that endothelin signalling — from epithelial progenitors at the follicle bottleneck region to its neighbouring dermal sheath — is the main contraction-activating pathway.

Cockburn et al. report that cells exiting the epidermal stem cell layer show a gradual progression of transcriptional changes during differentiation and retain the ability to divide once differentiation-committed.