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Updated: May 10, 2026

Isolating Hair Follicle Stem Cells and Epidermal Keratinocytes from Dorsal Mouse Skin
Published on: April 29, 2016
The incidental pore: CaV1.2 and stem cell activation in quiescent hair follicles
Pierre A Coulombe1, Michael J Caterina
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. coulombe@jhsph.edu
Abstract:
The hair follicle undergoes a lifelong developmental cycle that depends on the integration between activating and inhibitory signals acting to regulate and guide the proliferation and differentiation of pluripotent epithelial stem cells. The effectors and mechanisms responsible for re-entry of quiescent telogen hair follicles into the hair-producing anagen stage in mature skin remain incompletely understood. In the June 1, 2013, issue of Genes & Development, Yucel and colleagues (pp. 1217-1222) reported the unexpected finding that CaV1.2, the pore-forming subunit in a well-characterized voltage-gated, L-type calcium channel, is expressed in hair follicle stem cells and contributes to anagen re-entry but does so in a calcium flux-independent fashion.
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