The location and the telomerase expression of the different development stages of human skin epidermal stem cells in vivo

Abstract

Aim: To study the characteristics of the location and the telomerase expression of the different developmental periods of human skin epidermal stem cells, to illuminate the significance of these characteristics to the burn wound repair. Methods: The skin samples of child and adult that came from the operation of burn and plastic, the samples of fetus came from the accidental abortion. The samples were fixed by 10% formalin at once, then were made into paraffin sections. Integrinβ1, keratin19, p63 transcription factor and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) were detected by the immunohistochemistry stain. Results: The β1 integrin, K19, p63 and TERT positive cells were mainly located in the epidermal basement membrane, and the expression levels of those indexes were highest in the fetus skin, lower in the skins of the child and adult, the distribution was uniformity in the fetus and adult samples. Lowest expression in the adult sample. The expression amount of the β1 integrin, K19, p63 and TERT in the different development periods revealed decreasing with the age increasing(P<0.01). Conclusion: The epidermal stem cell of the fetus,child and adult were mainly located in the epidermal basement membrane, the positive expression sector and the expression levels of the telomerase had a same level with the location and positive expression level of the epidermal stem cells. It showed that the quantity and the expression level of the telomerase of the epidermal stem cell may have a relation with the repair ability of the different developmental periods of the skin tissue. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.