Loss of a quiescent niche but not follicle stem cells in the absence of bone morphogenetic protein signaling.

ABSTRACT: During the hair cycle, follicle stem cells (SCs) residing in a specialized niche called the "bulge" undergo bouts of quiescence and activation to cyclically regenerate new hairs. Developmental studies have long implicated the canonical bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathway in hair follicle (HF) determination and differentiation, but how BMP signaling functions in the hair follicle SC niche remains unknown. Here, we use loss and gain of function studies to manipulate BMP signaling in the SC niche. We show that when the Bmpr1a gene is conditionally ablated, otherwise quiescent SCs are activated to proliferate, causing an expansion of the niche and loss of slow-cycling cells. Surprisingly, follicle SCs are not lost, however, but rather, they generate long-lived, tumor-like branches that ex

SUBMITTER: Kobielak K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1888574 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature