Epidermal stem cell dynamics during pregnancy

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H05368
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Dermatology
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Toyoshima Fumiko 京都大学, ウイルス・再生医科学研究所, 教授 (40397576)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): ODA Yukako 京都大学, ウイルス・再生医科学研究所, 助教 (70452498)
• Research Collaborator: ICHIJO Ryo
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 幹細胞 / 皮膚 / 妊娠

Outline of Final Research Achievements

During pregnancy, stem cell self-renewal and differentiation in response to a physiological alteration leads to changes in organ size and tissue homeostasis in maternal body. However, how maternal tissue stem cells adapt to physiological changes is largely unknown. We investigated the epidermal stem cell dynamics in abdominal skin of pregnant mice, which expands rapidly to deal with foetal growth. We identify a highly proliferative basal cell population in the rapidly expanding abdominal skin of pregnant mice. These cells express Tbx3 that is necessary for their propagation to drive skin expansion. The Tbx3+ basal cells are generated from Axin2+ epidermal stem cells through planar-oriented asymmetric or symmetric cell divisions. This biased division of epidermal stem cells is induced by Sfrp1 and Igfbp2 proteins secreted from dermal cells. This study elucidates the epidermal stem cell/progeny organisation for responding to the demands for rapid skin expansion during pregnancy.

Free Research Field

細胞生物学