Abstract
The epidermis is a multilayered epithelium consisting of multiple different progenitor cell populations, all of which are important to epidermal function. In order to study these populations, several techniques have been developed that enable specific purification of the different progenitor cell populations. The best characterized stem cell population in the epidermis, and likely the most pluripotent, are the quiescent stem cells in the hair follicle bulge. In this chapter, we provide a method for isolating bulge stem cells from skin of adult mice using fluorescence-activated cell sorting of immunofluorescently labeled keratinocytes. We use the cell surface markers CD34 and α6-integrin for the enrichment of bulge stem cells. This method also contains notes on how to adjust the cytometer settings for a reproducible analysis.
Rehan M. Villani, Mehmet Deniz Akyuz, and Michaela T. Niessen have contributed equally to this work.
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Acknowledgments
Work in the laboratory is funded by the DFG SFB829 and SFB832, the German Cancer Aid, and Koeln Fortune.
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Villani, R.M., Akyuz, M.D., Niessen, M.T., Niessen, C.M. (2013). Analysis of Bulge Stem Cells from the Epidermis Using Flow Cytometry. In: Turksen, K. (eds) Skin Stem Cells. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 989. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-330-5_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-330-5_4
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Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-62703-329-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-330-5
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