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Updated: Apr 21, 2026

Isolating Hair Follicle Stem Cells and Epidermal Keratinocytes from Dorsal Mouse Skin
Published on: April 29, 2016
BLIMP1 is required for postnatal epidermal homeostasis but does not define a sebaceous gland progenitor under
Kai Kretzschmar1, Denny L Cottle2, Giacomo Donati3
1Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, King's College London, Guy's Hospital, 28(th) Floor Tower Wing, Great Maze Pond, London SE1 9RT, UK; Wellcome Trust-Medical Research Council Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QR, UK; Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EH, UK.
Abstract:
B-lymphocyte-induced nuclear maturation protein 1 (BLIMP1) was previously reported to define a sebaceous gland (SG) progenitor population in the epidermis. However, the recent identification of multiple stem cell populations in the hair follicle junctional zone has led us to re-evaluate its function. We show, in agreement with previous studies, that BLIMP1 is expressed by postmitotic, terminally differentiated epidermal cells within the SG, interfollicular epidermis, and hair follicle. Epidermal overexpression of c-Myc results in loss of BLIMP1(+) cells, an effect modulated by androgen signaling. Epidermal-specific deletion of Blimp1 causes multiple differentiation defects in the epidermis in addition to SG enlargement. In culture, BLIMP1(+) sebocytes have no greater clonogenic potential than BLIMP1(-) sebocytes. Finally, lineage-tracing experiments reveal that, under steady-state conditions, BLIMP1-expressing cells do not divide. Thus, rather than defining a sebocyte progenitor population, BLIMP1 functions in terminally differentiated cells to maintain homeostasis in multiple epidermal compartments.
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