In her second talk, Fuchs focuses primarily on studies of adult skin stem cells. Adult stem cells have the ability to make more stem cells and to generate the cells of a differentiated tissue. Skin stem cells can replenish the epidermis and make hair follicle cells. Skin grown in culture from just a few skin stem cells can be used to treat burn patients or replace damaged corneal epithelium. Stem cells reside in specific niches or microenvironments and signals from the niche determine whether a stem cell is going to be quiescent or make tissue. Fuchs’ lab has studied hair follicle stem cells for many years and has identified the signals that activate hair follicle stem cells as well as the specific set of transcription factors that are upregulated in the activated stem cells. They have shown that many of the genes turned on during stem cell activation are regulated by super enhancers which sense the niche environment.
View the full talk with additional resources on our website
Skin Stem Cells: Their Biology and Promise for Medicine
Skin stem cells have great potential for the treatment of burns and corneal injuries. As Elaine Fuchs explains, understanding skin stem cell biology is also key to understanding cancers such as squamous cell carcinoma. (Talk recorded in December 2017)
- Part 1: Skin Stem Cells: Their Biology and Promise for Regenerative MedicineAudience:
- Student
- Researcher
- Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
- Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Duration: 44:20 - Part 2: Tapping the Potential of Adult Stem CellsAudience:
- Researcher
- Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Duration: 51:43 - Part 3: Cancer: Hijacking the Wound Repair Mechanisms Used by Stem CellsAudience:
- Researcher
- Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Duration: 23:39