Advances in a Rapidly Emerging Field of Hair Follicle Stem Cell Research

The document reviewed advances in hair follicle stem cell (HFSC) research, highlighting both basic and clinical progress. Basic science achievements included in vivo assays of epidermal stem cells, identification of interfollicular epidermal stem cells, and bioengineered hair follicular unit transplantation in mice. Clinically, stem cells were recognized for their role in wound repair and gene therapy for skin diseases like epidermolysis bullosa. The study of HFSCs accelerated with the identification of molecular markers such as keratin 15 and CD34 in mice, and CD200 in humans, facilitating the isolation and characterization of bulge cells. The paper provided an overview of epidermal stem cells in hair follicles, their characteristics, control of their fate, their role in alopecia, and their application in tissue engineering.