Ultrastructural Pathology Laboratory, Victor Babes National Institute of Pathology, 050096 Bucharest, Romania.
Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology and Histology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania.
Cells. 2022 Dec 2;11(23):3903. doi: 10.3390/cells11233903.
Fifteen years after their discovery, telocytes (TCs) are yet perceived as a new stromal cell type. Their presence was initially documented peri-digestively, and gradually throughout the interstitia of many (non-)cavitary mammalian, human, and avian organs, including skin. Each time, TCs proved to be involved in diverse spatial relations with elements of interstitial (ultra)structure (blood vessels, nerves, immune cells, etc.). To date, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) remained the single main microscopic technique able to correctly and certainly attest TCs by their well-acknowledged (ultra)structure. In skin, dermal TCs reiterate almost all (ultra)structural features ascribed to TCs in other locations, with apparent direct implications in skin physiology and/or pathology. TCs' uneven distribution within skin, mainly located in stem cell niches, suggests involvement in either skin homeostasis or dermatological pathologies. On the other hand, different skin diseases involve different patterns of disruption of TCs' structure and ultrastructure. TCs' cellular cooperation with other interstitial elements, their immunological profile, and their changes during remission of diseases suggest their role(s) in tissue regeneration/repair processes. Thus, expanding the knowledge on dermal TCs could offer new insights into the natural skin capacity of self-repairing. Moreover, it would become attractive to consider that augmenting dermal TCs' presence/density could become an attractive therapeutic alternative for treating various skin defects.
十五年前发现的 telocytes（TCs）仍被认为是一种新的间质细胞类型。它们最初被发现在消化道周围，并逐渐在许多（非）腔隙哺乳动物、人类和禽类器官的间质中存在，包括皮肤。每次发现 TCs 都证明它们与间质（超）结构的各种元素（血管、神经、免疫细胞等）之间存在着不同的空间关系。迄今为止，透射电子显微镜（TEM）仍然是唯一能够通过公认的（超）结构正确而明确地证明 TCs 存在的主要显微镜技术。在皮肤中，真皮 TCs 重复了几乎所有在其他部位归因于 TCs 的（超）结构特征，这对皮肤生理学和/或病理学有明显的直接影响。TCs 在皮肤中的不均匀分布，主要位于干细胞龛中，表明它们参与皮肤的动态平衡或皮肤病理学。另一方面，不同的皮肤疾病涉及 TCs 结构和超微结构的不同破坏模式。TCs 与其他间质元素的细胞合作、它们的免疫特征以及它们在疾病缓解过程中的变化表明它们在组织再生/修复过程中的作用。因此，扩大对真皮 TCs 的了解可以为皮肤的自我修复能力提供新的见解。此外，考虑增加真皮 TCs 的存在/密度可能成为治疗各种皮肤缺陷的一种有吸引力的治疗替代方案。
