What can we do with skin stem cells

Posted by admin in Cancer on 09 19th, 2009 | no responses

What can be achieved through manipulation of skin stem cells? Quite a lot,
it seems, and by virtue of its accessibility we might expect to see
important techniques first pioneered in skin regeneration: “Recent advances
in skin-resident [progenitor cell] research have revealed that these
immature and regenerative cells with a high longevity provide critical
functions in maintaining skin homeostasis and repair after severe injuries
along the lifespan of individuals. … enhanced ultraviolet radiation
exposure, inflammation and oxidative stress and telomere attrition during
chronological aging may induce severe DNA damages and genomic instability
in the skin-resident [progenitor cells] and their progenies. … The
progressive decline in the regenerative functions and/or number of
skin-resident [progenitor cells] may cause diverse skin diseases with
advancing age. Moreover, the photoaging, telomerase re-activation and
occurrence of different oncogenic events in skin-resident [progenitor
cells] may also culminate in their malignant transformation into [cancer
stem cells] and skin cancer initiation and progression. Therefore, the
anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant treatments and stem cell-replacement and
gene therapies as well as the molecular targeting of their malignant
counterpart, skin cancer-initiating cells offer great promise to treat
diverse skin disorders and cancers.”