title: Beyond acne: Current aspects of sebaceous gland biology and function.
abstract: The sebaceous gland is most commonly found in association with a hair follicle. Its traditional function is the holocrine production of sebum, a complex mixture of lipids, cell debris, and other rather poorly characterized substances. Due to the gland's central role in acne pathogenesis, early research had focused on its lipogenic activity. Less studied aspects of the sebaceous gland, such as stem cell biology, the regulation of cellular differentiation by transcription factors, the significance of specific lipid fractions, the endocrine and specially the neuroendocrine role of the sebaceous gland, and its contribution to the innate immunity, the detoxification of the skin, and skin aging have only recently attracted the attention of researchers from different disciplines. Here, we summarize recent multidisciplinary progress in sebaceous gland research and discuss how sebaceous gland research may stimulate the development of novel therapeutic strategies targeting specific molecular pathways of the pathogenesis of skin diseases.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Dermatology, Venereology, Allergology and Immunology, Dessau Medical Center, Auenweg 38, 06847, Dessau, Germany. christos.zouboulis@klinikum-dessau.de.
authors.forename: Christos C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Zouboulis
authors.affiliation: San Gallicano Dermatologic Institute, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Picardo
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Meiwa Hospital, Nishinomiya, Japan.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kurokawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: Dániel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Törőcsik
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bíró
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, Gene Center, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Marlon R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D012627:Sebaceous Glands / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
keywords: Cell function; Cells; Culture models; Ex vivo; Human; In vitro; Lipidomics; Lipids; Neuropeptides; Progenitor cells; Proteome; Sebaceous differentiation; Sebaceous gland; Sebaceous lineage; Sebocyte; Sebum; Secretome