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Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Isolation and Culture of Adult Epithelial Stem Cells from Human Skin
Published on: March 31, 2011
The epigenetics of adult (somatic) stem cells
Kenneth J Eilertsen1, Z Floyd, Jeffrey M Gimble
1Epigenetics and Nuclear Reprogramming Laboratory, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA. ertkj@pbrc.edu
Abstract:
While genetic studies have provided a wealth of information about health and disease, there is a growing awareness that individual characteristics are also determined by factors other than genetic sequences. These "epigenetic" changes broadly encompass the influence of the environment on gene regulation and expression and in a more narrow sense, describe the mechanisms controlling DNA methylation, histone modification and genetic imprinting. In this review, we focus on the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate adult (somatic) stem cell differentiation, beginning with the metabolic pathways and factors regulating chromatin structure and DNA methylation and the molecular biological tools that are currently available to study these processes. The role of these epigenetic mechanisms in manipulating adult stem cells is followed by a discussion of the challenges and opportunities facing this emerging field.
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