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Updated: Jul 14, 2026
09:16
Generation of Genetically Modified Organotypic Skin Cultures Using Devitalized Human Dermis
Published on: December 14, 2015
A single type of progenitor cell maintains normal epidermis
Elizabeth Clayton1, David P Doupé, Allon M Klein
1MRC Cancer Cell Unit, Hutchison-MRC Research Centre, Cambridge CB2 0XZ, UK.
Nature
|March 3, 2007
Summary
Skin homeostasis may involve a single progenitor cell type, not two distinct populations. These cells divide symmetrically and asymmetrically to maintain skin tissue, challenging the traditional stem cell model.
Area of Science:
- Dermatology
- Cell Biology
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Current understanding posits two progenitor cell populations in adult epidermal homeostasis: self-renewing stem cells and transit-amplifying cells.
- Transit-amplifying cells differentiate after several divisions, contributing to tissue maintenance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cellular dynamics underlying adult epidermal homeostasis in vivo.
- To challenge or refine the existing model of skin tissue maintenance.
- To track progenitor cell fate at single-cell resolution over an extended period.
Main Methods:
- Utilized inducible genetic labeling in mouse tail epidermis.
- Tracked the fate of progenitor cells at single-cell resolution in vivo.
- Monitored cell behavior over time intervals up to one year.
Main Results:
- Clone-size distributions support a revised model involving a single progenitor cell type.
- This single progenitor cell population undergoes both symmetric and asymmetric divisions.
- Division rates are consistent with maintaining epidermal homeostasis.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest a new model for epidermal homeostasis with one progenitor cell type.
- This challenges the established view of distinct stem cell and transit-amplifying cell populations.
- The study raises questions regarding the precise role of stem cells in in vivo tissue maintenance.
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