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OPINION Epidermal homeostasis: do committed progenitors work while stem cells sleep?

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 9, pages 82–88 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Tracking the fate of cells in murine epidermis in vivo has revealed that a committed progenitor cell population can maintain normal adult tissue in the long term without support from a long-lived, self-renewing population of stem cells. Here, we argue that these results challenge the dogma that stem-cell proliferation is required for the cellular homeostasis of the epidermis and other adult tissues, with important implications for tissue physiology and disease.

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Figure 1: The EPU hypothesis.
Figure 2: Clonal analysis in murine interfollicular epidermis.
Figure 3: The stem–CP model of epidermal homeostasis.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the important contributions made by E. Clayton, D. Doupé, A. Klein and D. Winton in formulating the new insights reflected in this work, and we are grateful to W. Harris and A. Philpott for discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Philip Jones is at the MRC Cancer Cell Unit, Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, Cambridge, CB2 2XZ, UK.,

    Philip Jones

  2. Benjamin D. Simons is at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK.,

    Benjamin D. Simons

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Correspondence to Philip Jones.

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Jones, P., Simons, B. OPINION Epidermal homeostasis: do committed progenitors work while stem cells sleep?. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 9, 82–88 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm2292x

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