Human dermal stem cells differentiate into functional epidermal melanocytes.

ABSTRACT: Melanocytes sustain a lifelong proliferative potential, but a stem cell reservoir in glabrous skin has not yet been found. Here, we show that multipotent dermal stem cells isolated from human foreskins lacking hair follicles are able to home to the epidermis to differentiate into melanocytes. These dermal stem cells, grown as three-dimensional spheres, displayed a capacity for self-renewal and expressed NGFRp75, nestin and OCT4, but not melanocyte markers. In addition, cells derived from single-cell clones were able to differentiate into multiple lineages including melanocytes. In a three-dimensional skin equivalent model, sphere-forming cells differentiated into HMB45-positive melanocytes, which migrated from the dermis to the epidermis and aligned singly among the basal layer keratinocyt

SUBMITTER: Li L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2831759 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature