Wang Zi-Han, Liu Li-Ping, Zheng Yun-Wen
Institute of Regenerative Medicine, and Department of Dermatology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Large Animal Models for Biomedicine, and School of Biotechnology and Health Sciences, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, Guangdong, China.
Histol Histopathol. 2022 Oct;37(10):937-953. doi: 10.14670/HH-18-470. Epub 2022 May 13.
Melanocytes have a complex function and play an important role in a variety of regulatory mechanisms in the human system. Melanocyte stem cells (MelSCs) serve as a reservoir to replenish the melanocytes by regenerating new ones, and they are capable of self-renewal and differentiation to maintain their homeostasis, repair, and regeneration in tissues. The numerical decrease and functional impairment of MelSCs may be closely related to the development and treatment response of many skin diseases. However, the current knowledge about MelSCs mainly comes from studies in mice, and little is known about human MelSC markers; especially, their markers are still unclear or lack consensus. This leads to uncertainty in clinical findings, which further limits our comprehensive understanding of pigmentary disorders and also hinders the progress of new treatments. Thus, in this review article, combined with our previous and current work, we summarize and update the recent advances in MelSC research, including the molecular markers of human MelSCs and their niche, as well as the association of MelSCs with skin diseases, including vitiligo, hair greying, and melanoma. Due to the limited tools available to explore the identified characteristics of human MelSCs, pluripotent stem cells can provide a new research model for further study, especially combined with CRISPR/Cas9 technology. The visualization of human MelSCs' development and differentiation can help to identify their molecular characteristics and understand their cellular fate dynamically, which will allow us not only to further explore their roles in associated diseases, but also to achieve MelSC-based cellular therapy.
黑素细胞具有复杂的功能，在人体系统的多种调节机制中发挥重要作用。黑素细胞干细胞（MelSCs）作为一个储备库，通过再生新的黑素细胞来补充它们，并且它们能够自我更新和分化，以维持其在组织中的稳态、修复和再生。MelSCs的数量减少和功能受损可能与许多皮肤病的发生发展及治疗反应密切相关。然而，目前关于MelSCs的知识主要来自小鼠研究，对人类MelSCs标志物了解甚少；尤其是，它们的标志物仍不明确或缺乏共识。这导致临床发现存在不确定性，进一步限制了我们对色素性疾病的全面理解，也阻碍了新治疗方法的进展。因此，在这篇综述文章中，结合我们之前和当前的工作，我们总结并更新了MelSCs研究的最新进展，包括人类MelSCs的分子标志物及其微环境，以及MelSCs与皮肤病（包括白癜风、头发变白和黑色素瘤）的关联。由于探索人类MelSCs已确定特征的可用工具有限，多能干细胞可以为进一步研究提供一个新的研究模型，特别是与CRISPR/Cas9技术相结合。人类MelSCs发育和分化的可视化有助于识别它们的分子特征，并动态了解它们的细胞命运，这不仅将使我们能够进一步探索它们在相关疾病中的作用，还能实现基于MelSCs的细胞治疗。
