Science 12 March 2010: Vol. 327. no. 5971, pp. 1385 - 1389 DOI: 10.1126/science.1184733 | |
Reports
Hugo J. Snippert,1,* Andrea Haegebarth,1,* Maria Kasper,2 Viljar Jaks,2 Johan H. van Es,1 Nick Barker,1 Marc van de Wetering,1 Maaike van den Born,1 Harry Begthel,1 Robert G. Vries,1 Daniel E. Stange,1 Rune Toftgård,2 Hans Clevers1,
Mammalian epidermis consists of three self-renewing compartments:
the hair follicle, the sebaceous gland, and the interfollicular
epidermis. We generated knock-in alleles of murine
Lgr6, a close relative of the Lgr5 stem cell gene. Lgr6 was expressed in the
earliest embryonic hair placodes. In adult hair follicles, Lgr6+
cells resided in a previously uncharacterized region directly
above the follicle bulge. They expressed none of the known bulge
stem cell markers. Prenatal Lgr6+ cells established the hair
follicle, sebaceous gland, and interfollicular epidermis. Postnatally,
Lgr6+ cells generated sebaceous gland and interfollicular epidermis,
whereas contribution to hair lineages gradually diminished with
age. Adult Lgr6+ cells executed long-term wound repair, including
the formation of new hair follicles. We conclude that Lgr6 marks
the most primitive epidermal stem cell.