Dedifferentiation maintains melanocyte stem cells in a dynamic niche.

ABSTRACT: For unknow reasons, the melanocyte stem cell (McSC) system fails earlier than other adult stem cell populations¹, which leads to hair greying in most humans and mice^2,3. Current dogma states that McSCs are reserved in an undifferentiated state in the hair follicle niche, physically segregated from differentiated progeny that migrate away following cues of regenerative stimuli^4-8. Here we show that most McSCs toggle between transit-amplifying and stem cell states for both self-renewal and generation of mature progeny, a mechanism fundamentally distinct from those of other self-renewing systems. Live imaging and single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that McSCs are mobile, translocating between hair follicle stem cell and transit-amplifying compartments where th

SUBMITTER: Sun Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10132989 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature