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Renewal of Skin Epidermal Stem Cells01:12

Renewal of Skin Epidermal Stem Cells

The skin is divided into epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis, the skin's outermost, middle, and inner layers. The human epidermal layer regularly undergoes renewal, where old, dead cells are replaced by new cells. Epidermal stem cells or EpiSCs divide and differentiate to restore the lost cells. For the renewal process, some EpiSCs continuously self-renew. In contrast, few others differentiate into transit-amplifying cells, which later form prickle or spinous cells, followed by granular cells,...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 31, 2026

Live Cell Imaging with Time Lapse Photography to Study Epidermal Keratinocyte Proliferation Kinetics
07:21

Live Cell Imaging with Time Lapse Photography to Study Epidermal Keratinocyte Proliferation Kinetics

Published on: June 6, 2025

Epidermal stem cell dynamics.

Maya Sieber-Blum1

  • 1Institute of Genetic Medicine and Northeast England Stem Cell Institute, Newcastle University, Centre for Life, Central Parkway, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3BZ, UK. maya.sieber-blum@ncl.ac.uk

Stem Cell Research & Therapy
|July 5, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Hair follicle stem cells may cause basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Wounding skin prompted BCC-like tumors in mice with activated hedgehog pathway signaling in hair follicle stem cells.

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Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Dermatology
  • Stem Cell Biology

Background:

  • Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a common human cancer.
  • Misregulation of the hedgehog pathway is implicated in BCC development.
  • Hair follicle stem cells are potential precursors for BCC.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of hair follicle stem cells in basal cell carcinoma (BCC) development.
  • To explore the involvement of the hedgehog pathway in BCC tumorigenesis.
  • To determine the effect of epidermal wounding on BCC formation.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized genetically engineered mice with an inducible oncogenic allele of Smoothened (SmoM2).
  • Expressed SmoM2 under cytokeratin 14 (K14) or cytokeratin 15 (K15) promoters to target different stem cell populations.
  • Induced SmoM2 expression and performed epidermal wounding to assess tumor formation.

Main Results:

  • Mice expressing K14:SmoM2 readily formed BCC-like tumors.
  • Mice expressing K15:SmoM2 did not form tumors without epidermal wounding.
  • Epidermal wounding in K15:SmoM2 mice led to widespread BCC-like tumor formation.

Conclusions:

  • Wounding may mobilize hair follicle stem cells to the epidermis, activating the hedgehog pathway and initiating tumorigenesis.
  • Hair follicle stem cells are a potential source of BCC.
  • Epidermal injury can promote BCC development in susceptible individuals.