The bulge area is the origin of nestin-expressing pluripotent stem cells of the hair follicle (original) (raw)

Bulge Region as a Putative Hair Follicle Stem Cells Niche: A Brief Review

Iranian journal of public health, 2017

Hair follicle stem cells exist in different sites. Most of the hair follicle stem cells are reside in niche called bulge. Bulge region is located between the opening of sebaceous gland and the attachment site of the arrector pili muscle. Data were collected using databases and resources of PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, MEDLINE and their references from the earliest available published to identify English observational studies on hair follicle bulge region. Bulge stem cells are pluripotent with high proliferative capacity. Specific markers allow the bulge cells to be isolated from mouse or human hair follicle. Stem cells isolated from bulge region are label retaining and slow cycling hence these cells are defined as label-retaining cells. Bulge cell populations, due to their plasticity nature are able to differentiate into distinct linage and could contribute in tissue regeneration. The current review discuss about bulge stem cells characteristics and biology includ...