Introduction: Adult epidermal stem cells are crucial for skin tissue regeneration during homeostasis and disease. Recent updates relating to the function, cellular role and properties of these cells have been published. Notably, a recent study showed that keratinocytes may possess a transcriptional profile that is more amenable to reprogramming and this may open new avenues for exploring novel strategies to create patient-specific cell therapies.
Areas covered: In this paper, an overview of recent research pertaining to epidermal stem cells' properties and location, and their capacity for differentiation and transdifferentiation, as well as potential for tumorigenesis are presented.
Expert opinion: More efforts should be made to develop effective approaches to induce lineage conversion between different cell types and tailor the treatment to specific patient, while minimizing cancer risk.