title: Making an epidermis.
abstract: The skin functions as a barrier protecting the body from dehydration and environmental insults. This barrier function is mainly provided by the outermost layer of the skin, the epidermis. The epidermis is maintained by epidermal stem cells which reside in the basal layer and which generate daughter cells that move upward toward the surface of the skin. During this journey, keratinocytes undergo a series of biochemical and morphological changes that result in the formation of the various layers of the epidermis. Eventually, these cells turn into the outermost layer of dead cornified cells that are sloughed into the environment. This review summarizes our current understanding of the mechanisms that control proliferation and differentiation of epidermal stem cells, and thus addresses fundamental processes that control epidermal morphogenesis and function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Charles C Gates Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology Program, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado 80045, USA. Maranke.Koster@ucdenver.edu
authors.forename: Maranke I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Koster
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000078404:Epidermal Cells; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000166:cytology; D009024:Morphogenesis; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology
references.citation: J Invest Dermatol. 2008 May;128(5):1311-8
references.pmid: 18037901
references.citation: Genes Dev. 2006 Nov 15;20(22):3185-97
references.pmid: 17114587
references.citation: Genes Dev. 2008 Apr 15;22(8):976-85
references.pmid: 18413712
references.citation: J Invest Dermatol. 2003 Nov;121(5):963-8
references.pmid: 14708593
references.citation: J Dermatol Sci. 2002 Apr;28(3):173-80
references.pmid: 11912004
references.citation: Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol. 2007;23:93-113
references.pmid: 17489688
references.citation: Am J Med Genet A. 2009 Sep;149A(9):1942-7
references.pmid: 19681108
references.citation: J Invest Dermatol. 2006 Jul;126(7):1459-68
references.pmid: 16778814
references.citation: J Invest Dermatol. 2007 May;127(5):1175-86
references.pmid: 17159913
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Feb 27;104(9):3255-60
references.pmid: 17360634
references.citation: Cell Tissue Kinet. 1987 Sep;20(5):461-72
references.pmid: 3450396
references.citation: Science. 2004 Jan 16;303(5656):359-63
references.pmid: 14671312
references.citation: Br J Dermatol. 1972 Jan;86(1):14-9
references.pmid: 4551262
references.citation: J Invest Dermatol. 2009 Jan;129(1):60-9
references.pmid: 18633439
references.citation: Nat Med. 2005 Dec;11(12):1351-4
references.pmid: 16288281
references.citation: Nature. 2007 May 17;447(7142):316-20
references.pmid: 17507982
references.citation: J Cell Sci. 1974 Jul;15(2):291-319
references.pmid: 4852053
references.citation: Br J Dermatol. 1976 Dec;95(6):577-90
references.pmid: 1009004
references.citation: Genes Dev. 2006 Apr 15;20(8):1028-42
references.pmid: 16618808
references.citation: Stem Cells. 2006 Apr;24(4):965-74
references.pmid: 16282445
references.citation: EMBO J. 2001 Mar 15;20(6):1215-22
references.pmid: 11250888
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Oct 11;102(41):14677-82
references.pmid: 16203973