Epidermal stem cells (ESC) are responsible for maintaining skin cellular homeostasis, as they give rise to fast-dividing transit amplifying cells committed to terminal differentiation, while retaining their self-renewal capacity. However, no pure ESC cultures are available and no highly specific cytochemical marker was identified. We report here the experimental conditions allowing the selective enrichment in ESC, using cultured adult human keratinocytes. The main step was the selection of cells able to rapidly adhere to human collagen type IV in vitro. Thus, an increased proportion of putative ESC of about 65% was obtained, as demonstrated by p63 expression.
Malignant melanoma is a rare form of skin cancer, which is only about 3-4% of all skin cancers, but results in a mortality rate up to 65-70%. The vast majority of melanomas are diagnosed in stage 0, I and II, but there were cases when the primary diagnosis of malignant melanoma patients was put directly in stage IV metastatic disseminated lymph nodes, lung, liver, spleen, bone, brain. In the case of a patient with metastatic melanoma, poor biological condition limits the diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities.
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