표피성체줄기세포의 특성과 분리

Abstract

Stem cells are vital for the homeostasis of self-renewing tissues and their manipulation may have wide applications, including gene therapy, would repair, and tissue transplantation. Renewal of epidermis is achieved by an ordered replication of stem cells and transit amplifying cells followed by terminal differentiation. Although the existence of epithelial stem cells in the skin has been known for some decades from kinetic studies performed in vivo, attempts to isolate these cells have been made recently facilitated by the availability of antibodies that direct cell surface markers on epidermal cells. However, isolation of these cells are not sufficient yet for further biologic study because of limited yield and need of expensive equipment. In this paper, markers of epithelial stem cells and purification methods will be discussed in terms of stem cell characteristics, location, differentiation abilities and clinical implications.