title: Isolating subpopulations of human epidermal basal cells based on polyclonal serum against trypsin-resistant CSPG4 epitopes.
abstract: Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (CSPG4) is highly expressed by human epidermal keratinocytes located at the tip of the dermal papilla where keratinocytes show characteristics of stem cells. However, since available antibodies to CSPG4 are directed against trypsin-sensitive epitopes we have been unable to study these keratinocytes isolated directly from skin samples by flow cytometry. By choosing epitopes of CSPG4 relatively close to the cell membrane we were able to generate a polyclonal antibody that successfully detects CSPG4 on keratinocytes after trypsinization. Although CSPG4-positive basal cells express higher levels of Itgβ1 the colony-forming efficiency is slightly lower than CSPG4-negative basal cells. Sorting the directly isolated keratinocytes based on Itgβ1 did not reveal differences in colony-forming efficiency between keratinocytes expressing high or low levels of Itgβ1. However, after the first passage Itgβ1 could be used to predict colony-forming efficiency whether the culture was established from CSPG4-positive or CSPG4-negative basal cell keratinocytes. Although we were unable to detect differences in the colony-forming assay, global gene expression profiling showed that CSPG4-positive basal cell keratinocytes are distinct from CSPG4-negative basal cell keratinocytes. Our study demonstrates that it is possible to generate antibodies against trypsin-resistant epitopes of CSPG4. Our study also documents a marked change in behaviour upon cell culturing and challenges the way we assess for stemness within the human epidermal basal layer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Genetics, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Anders Patrik
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Gunnarsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Genetics, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Rikke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jeppe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Praetorius
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Genetics, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark. Electronic address: uffejens@rm.dk.
authors.forename: Uffe Birk
authors.initials: UB
authors.lastname: Jensen
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D011508:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D014357:Trypsin / Q000494:pharmacology; D000099216:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycan 4
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D011508:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans; D000939:Epitopes; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D014357:Trypsin; C101390:CSPG4 protein, human; D000099216:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycan 4
keywords: Epidermal stem cells; FACS; Stem cell niche