20/05/2026
The May SkinChronicles is out!
How do hair follicle stem cells decide their fate?
Hair follicle stem cells are the engines of hair growth and skin renewal but a lot of what we know about them has come from research into transcriptional signatures and signalling gradients. A study from Peters and colleagues shows how the lipids that make up our skin barrier matter too.
By deleting the lipid making enzyme, ceramide synthase 4 in the skin, the researchers found that losing long chain ceramides reroutes hair follicle stem cells, disrupting the hair follicle and triggering an immune response like that seen in atopic dermatitis.
Discover the article written by Joseph Inns, from the Newcastle University, Translational and Clinical Research Institute, here: https://esdr.org/skinchronicles/