Chunmeng Shi, Tianmin Cheng
Institute of Combined Injury, State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Department of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, 30 Gaotanyan Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing City 400038, China.
Med Hypotheses. 2004;62(5):683-8. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2003.12.022.
Plasticity of adult cells has been identified in several post-natal tissues in the past few years and has attracted special attention in regenerative medicine. Skin is the biggest organ in the body. Adult skin consists of epidermis, dermis and appendages such as hairs and glands which are linked to the epidermis but project deep into the dermal layer. Skin stem cell biology has been a focus of increasing interest in current life science. Committed stem cells with limited differentiation potential for regeneration and repair of epidermis have been known for decades. Recent studies further report that adult skin tissues contain cell populations with pluripotent characteristics. Multipotent stem cells from hair follicle and non-follicular skin, both in epidermal and dermal tissues, are found to have the differentiation capacity to generate multiple cell lineages. Basing on the present data, our hypothesis is that skin may serve as a local reservoir of various adult stem cell populations, including committed stem cell populations and pluripotent stem cell populations both in epidermal and dermal tissues. Given its easy accessibility, stem cells in skin will not only provide an experimental model for skin biology, but also may provide an experimental model for studying the epithelial-mesenchymal interactions of several other organs outside of skin. The stem cell populations in skin tissues may also have extensive therapeutic implications in the replacement of skin and may serve as an alternative source of stem cells for several other organs outside of skin. The in situ activation and mobilization of stem cell populations in the skin is an ideal way to renew and repair epidermis and dermis, even appendages.
在过去几年中，已在几种出生后的组织中鉴定出成体细胞的可塑性，这在再生医学中引起了特别关注。皮肤是人体最大的器官。成人皮肤由表皮、真皮和附属器组成，如毛发和腺体，它们与表皮相连但深入真皮层。皮肤干细胞生物学一直是当前生命科学中日益受到关注的焦点。具有有限分化潜能以再生和修复表皮的定向干细胞已为人所知数十年。最近的研究进一步报告称，成人皮肤组织含有具有多能特性的细胞群体。发现来自毛囊和非毛囊皮肤的多能干细胞，无论是在表皮组织还是真皮组织中，都具有分化产生多种细胞谱系的能力。基于目前的数据，我们的假设是皮肤可能作为各种成体干细胞群体的局部储存库，包括表皮和真皮组织中的定向干细胞群体和多能干细胞群体。鉴于其易于获取，皮肤中的干细胞不仅将为皮肤生物学提供一个实验模型，而且还可能为研究皮肤以外的其他几个器官的上皮-间充质相互作用提供一个实验模型。皮肤组织中的干细胞群体在皮肤替代方面也可能具有广泛的治疗意义，并且可以作为皮肤以外的其他几个器官的干细胞替代来源。皮肤中干细胞群体的原位激活和动员是更新和修复表皮、真皮甚至附属器的理想方式。
