Epidermal homoeostasis is maintained by a fine balance of keratinocyte proliferation and terminal differentiation. In skin homoeostasis, cells which enter the differentiation programme must be compensated by cell replenishment in the epidermal basal layer. Today, it is admitted that two distinct proliferative cells coexist in the basal layer of epidermis, namely slow-cycling stem cells and committed progenitor
4Of note, the basement membrane and the uppermost dermis are key components of the epidermal stem cells' niche.
5From a histological point of view, skin ageing is mainly characterized by a flattening of the dermal-epidermal junction, an epidermal thinning in some body sites like scalp, a decreased basal cell density, a delamination of the basement membrane and alteration of the superficial dermis. 6 Of note, the most striking alterations reported so far deal with extracellular matrix and more precisely, with decreased expression of glycosaminoglycans and related proteoglycans. In parallel, the ability to in vitro give rise to holoclones progressively decline while the number of paraclones increases. 4 Of note, in human hair follicles, an age-related progressive decline in holoclone production was also observed. 9 Altogether, these results suggest an agerelated progressive loss of human epidermal stem cells' functionality. More generally speaking, glycans which are endowed with a unique and huge molecular diversity, represent the third language of life, besides nucleic acids and proteins, 12 and as such, must be taken into consideration more fully as key actors of skin biology and important factors in investigative dermatology. Considering the molecular