Basal stem cells

Mammalian skin must be tough, water-resistant, self-renewing, and rapidly healing. The outer layers of cells or epidermis consist principally of keratinocytes, epithelial cells specialized for formation of keratin (Fig. 7-31). In the inner layer of the epidermis the basal stem cells divide, providing a constant outward flow of cells which become progressively flattened, dehydrated, and filled with keratin fibrils.3 The outer layers contain only dead cells which are finally sloughed or abraded from the surface. Human epidermis is completely renewed in about 28 days ... 

Also present in the epidermis are embedded macrophage-like Langerhans cells as well as pigmented melanocytes, cells with highly branched dendrites, which lie just above the basal stem cell layer. Each melanocyte contains hundreds of pigmented organelles called melanosomes. They contain not only the black or reddish melanin pigments but also the enzymes needed to form them (Chapter 25).n o... 

Rock JR, Randell SH, Hogan BLM (2010) Airway basal stem cells a perspective on their roles in epithelial homeostasis and remodeling. Dis Model Mech 3(9-10) 545-556... 

Figure 2 Depiction of some components of the vertebrate olfactory epithelium in the nose. Odorants, e.g., carvone, deposit themselves in the mucous layer and interact with molecular receptors in the membrane of cilia of the olfactory receptor cells. Subsequent to intracellular signal transduction events, action potentials are sent via the olfactory axons to the olfactory bulbs in the brain. Supporting cells provide physical and physiological support for the olfactory neurons. Undifferentiated basal (stem) cells are the source of new supporting and olfactory receptor cells.

Basal cells Stem cells for other airway cell types that do not interface with... 

The neural tube is a pseudostratified epithelium, with cells extending between the apical and basal surfaces of the epithelial wall. The neuroepithelium contains undifferentiated populations of stem cells and radial glia (see Ch. 29). With time, both of these cell types give rise to the three main lineages for neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. After the final mitotic division, neurons migrate away from the ventricular surface of the neural... 

A similar process of differentiation has been demonstrated in the basal cell layer of the squamous epithelium of the skin which seems to contain the stem cells... 

Alterations in brain iron metabolism have been reported, resulting in increased iron accumulation in Huntington s disease. This was particularly the case in basal ganglia from patients with HD compared to normal controls. In studies in embryonic stem cells, huntingtin was found to be iron-regulated, essential for the function of normal nuclear and perinuclear organelles and to be involved in the regulation of iron homeostasis. 

While all the aforementioned cell types form the epithelial surface of the airways, basal cells reside deep in the tracheo-bronchial epithelium and are not directly in contact with the airway lumen. Basal cells are considered as the stem cell or progenitor cell of the bronchial epithelium and are pyramidal in shape with a low cytoplasmic/nuclear volume ratio [8, 15-17],... 

Skeletal myoblasts are adult, tissue-specific stem cells [73] located between the basal lamina and the sarcolemma on the periphery of the mature skeletal-muscle fiber [74]. Also known as muscle satellite cells, these small, mononuclear cells are activated by biochemical signals to divide and differentiate into fusion-competent cells after muscle injury. 

The stem cells of the basal cells are located at the level of the limbus, which come from centripetal migration. The daughter cells migrate to form the intermediate cells. Their cytoplasm, which is rich in glycogen and mitochondria, shows their high metabolic activity. It also contains a Golgi s apparatus, some microtubules, and some keratin filaments connected to each other by desmosomes and hemidesmo-somes. Most of all this cytoplasm contains some actin... 

Located in the limbal epithelium, the basal cells act as stem cells for the basal cells of the comeal epithelium (Fig. 4.9). 

CotsareUs, G., Cheng, S.Z., Dong, G., Sun, TT, Lavker, R.M. Existence of slow-cycling limbal epithelial basal cells that can be preferentially stimulated to proliferate implications on epithelial stem cells. CeU 57, 201-209 (1989)... 

The barriers of the eye differ from that of skin in dimensions and mucosal organization there are epithelial cel-Inlar barriers made of lipid layers on the eye and dry snrfaces made of proteins in the stratihed snrfaces of the skin. Skin is protected by a superficial outer fatty hhn, the stratum comeum, and covered by a thick layer of cells, the basal cellnlar layer. Thanks to these thick layers, skin has a high resistance to initial diffusion of aqueous fluids and less resistance to lipophilic solvents and to acids. The initial chemical cracking of the lipid layer allows fluids to invade deeper layers of the skin. The basal cell layer and the hair follicles contain stem cells capable of epithelial regeneration. 

The innermost layer of the epidermis, the stratum basale, consists of a single layer of columnar-shaped, undifferentiated stem cells. Mitosis of these cells constantly renews the epidermis and this proliferation compensates for the loss of dead stratum corneum cells (corneocytes) from the skin surface. As the cells produced by the basal layer move upward, they alter morphologically as well as histochemically to form the outermost layer, the stratum corneum. Over a 4- to 5-week period the entire epidermis is renewed [5]. 

Stratum basale is a single layer composed of stem cells and their derivative cells. It is attached to the basement membrane by hemidesmo-somes.48 The cells in this layer are columnar or cuboidal in shape and characterized by large nuclei (high nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio) and keratin filaments (tonofilaments). The basal layer contains keratins K14 and K15, melanocytes (which are pigment-forming cells), Langerhans... 

The stratum corneum consists of denucleated corneocytes filled with cross-linked proteins, while the intercellular space is occupied by lipids synthesized prior to and during cornification [24], Formation of this barrier relies on the cornification of epidermal keratinocytes, which undergo growth arrest, terminal differentiation, and an epidermal-specific cell death, referred to as planned cell death [25], Abnormalities in any of these programmed events may lead to epidermal disorders such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and cancer. Flowever, biological events that enable basal cells (stem cells) to proliferate, differentiate, and commit planned cell death are still poorly understood [10]. The keratinocyte differentiation process can be stimulated by prodifferentiation agents such as extracellular calcium and 1,25-dihydroxy cholecalciferol (referred to as vitamin D3 hereafter) [23], Aberrant or absent differentiation can be found in other skin disorders such as atopic keratosis, seborrheic keratosis, and rosacea. 

The stratum basale or basal layer is responsible for the continual renewal of the epidermis (a process occurring every 20-30 days). Proliferation of the stem cells in the stratum basale creates new keratinocytes which then push existing cells towards the surface. During this upward transit, given that the epidermis is... 

---