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World J Stem Cells. Mar 26, 2015; 7(2): 495-501
Published online Mar 26, 2015. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v7.i2.495
Niche interactions in epidermal stem cells
Hye-Ryung Choi, Sang-Young Byun, Soon-Hyo Kwon, Kyoung-Chan Park
Hye-Ryung Choi, Sang-Young Byun, Soon-Hyo Kwon, Kyoung-Chan Park, Department of Dermatology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam-si, Gyounggi-do 463-707, South Korea
Author contributions: All authors contributed to this work.
Supported by A grant from the Korea Healthcare Technology R and D Project, provided by the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, South Korea No. A103017 and HN10C0001.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Kyoung-Chan Park, MD, PhD, Department of Dermatology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Gumi-ro 166 Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do 463-707, South Korea. gcpark@snu.ac.kr
Telephone: +82-31-7877311 Fax: +82-2-36751187
Received: August 11, 2014
Peer-review started: August 11, 2014
First decision: October 14, 2014
Revised: October 22, 2014
Accepted: October 31, 2014
Article in press: November 3, 2014
Published online: March 26, 2015
Abstract

Within the epidermis and dermis of the skin, cells secrete and are surrounded by the extracellular matrix (ECM), which provides structural and biochemical support. The ECM of the epidermis is the basement membrane, and collagen and other dermal components constitute the ECM of the dermis. There is significant variation in the composition of the ECM of the epidermis and dermis, which can affect “cell to cell” and “cell to ECM” interactions. These interactions, in turn, can influence biological responses, aging, and wound healing; abnormal ECM signaling likely contributes to skin diseases. Thus, strategies for manipulating cell-ECM interactions are critical for treating wounds and a variety of skin diseases. Many of these strategies focus on epidermal stem cells, which reside in a unique niche in which the ECM is the most important component; interactions between the ECM and epidermal stem cells play a major role in regulating stem cell fate. As they constitute a major portion of the ECM, it is likely that integrins and type IV collagens are important in stem cell regulation and maintenance. In this review, we highlight recent research-including our previous work-exploring the role that the ECM and its associated components play in shaping the epidermal stem cell niche.

Keywords: Stem cell niche, Epidermal stem cells, Integrins, Type IV collagen, MiR135b

Core tip: Epidermal stem cells reside in a unique niche within the skin, which is shaped by interactions between stem cell-associated integrins and components of the extracellular matrix. Here, we review literature evaluating the role that integrins play in epidermal stem cell maintenance and proliferation, and highlight methods that have been used to enrich for epidermal stem cells. We stress that by understanding the epidermal stem cell niche, new regenerative medicine applications can be developed.