Its not much, but atleast its another piece in the jigsaw:
http://www.newsrx.com/articles/698761.html
Stem Cell Research
Researchers from National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research publish new studies and findings in the area of stem cell research
September 3rd, 2007
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United States
Bethesda
Stem Cell Research
(NewsRx.com) – A report, “Requirement of Rac1 distinguishes follicular from interfollicular epithelial stem cells,” is newly published data in Oncogene. According to recent research from the United States, “Epithelial stem cells in the bulge region within the hair follicle maintain the cyclic hair growth, but whether these stem cells also contribute to the epidermal renewal remains unclear. Here, we observed that the conditional deletion of the Rac1 gene in the mouse skin, including the potential follicular and epidermal stem cell compartments, results in alopecia owing to defective hair development.”
“Surprisingly, mice lacking the expression of this Rho GTPase do not display major alterations in the interfollicular skin. Furthermore, Rac1 excision from primary epithelial keratinocytes results in the inability to reconstitute hair follicles and sebaceous glands when grafted onto mice, but epithelial cells lacking Rac1 can nonetheless form a healthy epidermis,” wrote R.M. Castilho and colleagues, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
The researchers concluded: “Together, these findings support the emerging view that the epidermis and the hair follicles are maintained by different epithelial stem cells, and provide evidence that the requirement for Rac1 function can distinguish these distinct stem cells populations.”
Castilho and colleagues published their study in Oncogene (Requirement of Rac1 distinguishes follicular from interfollicular epithelial stem cells. Oncogene, 2007;26(35):5078-85).
For additional information, contact R.M. Castilho, National Institutes of Health, Oral and Pharyngeal Cancer Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, Bethesda, MD 20892-4340 USA…
Publisher contact information for the journal Oncogene is: Nature Publishing Group, Macmillan Building, 4 Crinan St., London N1 9XW, England.