Keratinocyte Stem Cells: a Commentary1

For many years it has been widely accepted that stem cells play a crucial role in adult tissue maintenance. The concept that the renewing tissues of the body contain a small subcompartment of self-maintaining stem cells, upon which the entire tissue is dependent, is also now accepted as applicable to all renewing tissues. Gene therapy and tissue engineering are driving considerable interest in the clinical application of such hierarchically organized cellular compartments. Recent initial observations have provided a tantalizing insight into the large pluripotency of these cells. Indeed, scientists are now beginning to talk about the possible totipotency of some adult tissue stem cells. Such work is currently phenomenologic, but analysis of data derived from genomics and proteomics, identifying the crucial control signals involved, will soon provide a further impetus to stem cell biology with far reaching applications. The epidermis with its relatively simple structure, ease of accessibility, and the ability to grow its cells in vitro is one obvious target tissue for testing stem cell manipulation theories. It is crucial, however, that the normal keratinocyte stem cell is thoroughly characterized prior to attempting to manipulate its pluripotency. This commentary assesses the data generated to date and critically discusses the conclusions that have been drawn. Our current level of understanding, or lack of understanding, of the keratinocyte stem cell is reviewed

LABELING OF MURINE MASTOCYTOMA CELLS IN VITRO WITH PLASMA TRITIATED THYMIDINE-LABELED ANIMALS

40 min after injecting tritiated thymidine into an animal, 20–30% of the total plasma radioactivity is nonvolatile. This fraction decreases to about 6% 10 hr after the injection and 3% 24 hr after the injection. There appears to be material in this nonvolatile fraction that can label mastocytoma cells in culture. The labeling indices decrease with time after injection in the same way as the nonvolatile fraction. The 40 min plasma sample contains sufficient material to allow accurate assessment of the fraction of cells in S in culture after a 6 wk exposure. The circulating material is not apparently available for incorporation into those cells in cycle in the donor animal. The material appears to be related to the G0 cell-specific pool that has been described elsewhere. The trichloroacetic acid-soluble or ethanol-soluble nonvolatile activity appears to contain thymine, and some thymidine-phosphorylated compounds

Sensitivity to Sunburn Is Associated with Susceptibility to Ultraviolet Radiation–Induced Suppression of Cutaneous Cell–Mediated Immunity

Skin cancer incidence is highest in white-skinned people. Within this group, skin types I/II (sun sensitive/tan poorly) are at greater risk than skin types III/IV (sun tolerant/tan well). Studies in mice demonstrate that ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-induced suppression of cell-mediated immune function plays an important role in the development of skin cancer and induces a susceptibility to infectious disease. A similar role is suspected in humans, but we lack quantitative human data to make risk assessments of ambient solar exposure on human health. This study demonstrates that ambient levels of solar UVR, typically experienced within 1 h of exposure to noonday summer sunlight, can suppress contact hypersensitivity (CHS) responses in healthy white-skinned humans in vivo (n = 93). There was a linear relationship between increase in erythema and suppression of CHS (P < 0.001), and a moderate sunburn (two minimal erythema doses [2 MED]) was sufficient to suppress CHS in all volunteers by 93%. However, a single suberythemal exposure of either 0.25 or 0.5 MED suppressed CHS responses by 50 and 80%, respectively, in skin types I/II, whereas 1 MED only suppressed CHS by 40% in skin types III/IV. The two- to threefold greater sensitivity of skin types I/II for a given level of sunburn may play a role in their greater sensitivity to skin cancer

Expansion of Intestinal Epithelial Stem Cells during Murine Development

Murine small intestinal crypt development is initiated during the first postnatal week. Soon after formation, overall increases in the number of crypts occurs through a bifurcating process called crypt fission, which is believed to be driven by developmental increases in the number of intestinal stem cells (ISCs). Recent evidence suggests that a heterogeneous population of ISCs exists within the adult intestine. Actively cycling ISCs are labeled by Lgr5, Ascl2 and Olfm4; whereas slowly cycling or quiescent ISC are marked by Bmi1 and mTert. The goal of this study was to correlate the expression of these markers with indirect measures of ISC expansion during development, including quantification of crypt fission and side population (SP) sorting. Significant changes were observed in the percent of crypt fission and SP cells consistent with ISC expansion between postnatal day 14 and 21. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the various ISC marker mRNAs demonstrated divergent patterns of expression. mTert surged earliest, during the first week of life as crypts are initially being formed, whereas Lgr5 and Bmi1 peaked on day 14. Olfm4 and Ascl2 had variable expression patterns. To assess the number and location of Lgr5-expressing cells during this period, histologic sections from intestines of Lgr5-EGFP mice were subjected to quantitative analysis. There was attenuated Lgr5-EGFP expression at birth and through the first week of life. Once crypts were formed, the overall number and percent of Lgr5-EGFP positive cells per crypt remain stable throughout development and into adulthood. These data were supported by Lgr5 in situ hybridization in wild-type mice. We conclude that heterogeneous populations of ISCs are expanding as measured by SP sorting and mRNA expression at distinct developmental time points

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Epidermal Cell Production Rates

Labeling and mitotic index data and estimates for the length of the S and M phases of the cell cycle from the literature have been compared with new data obtained over a 24-hr period from various epidermal sites in mouse. It has been found that values obtained at a single time of the day may give misleading results. All data have been interpreted in terms of cell production rates per epidermal proliferative unit (EPU). The final conclusions after consideration of cell production rates, labeling and mitotic indices, epidermal transit times, and epidermal structure are that dorsal and ear skin have rather similar cell production rates while tail and foot rates are 4 to 7 times higher. A comparison has also been made between the mouse results and the available human data. Hairless mouse dorsum appears from structural and proliferative aspects to be the best model for some regions of human skin. A new model has been proposed for epidermal proliferation based on the EPU. The model suggests a role for the Langerhans cells and suggests that there is a program of sequential cellular maturity in the EPU originating at the level of a central basal stem cell through committed proliferative cells and ending with cell loss from the skin surface