Abstract
Skin is the largest organ of the human body. Its architecture and physiological functions depend on diverse populations of epidermal cells and dermal fibroblasts. Reciprocal communication between the epidermis and dermis plays a key role in skin development, homeostasis and repair. While several stem cell populations have been identified in the epidermis with distinct locations and functions, there is additional heterogeneity within the mesenchymal cells of the dermis. Here, we discuss the current knowledge of how the Hippo pathway and its downstream effectors Yes-associated protein (YAP) and transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) contribute to the maintenance, activation and coordination of the epidermal and dermal cell populations during development, homeostasis, wound healing and cancer.
Highlights
The skin is the largest organ of the human body
We first give an overview of the contributions of the different epidermal stem cells (SCs) and dermal fibroblast populations to skin tissue development, homeostasis and repair, and the roles of these cells in cancer development; in the second part, we review the existing work on the specific roles of Yes-associated protein (YAP)/transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) in controlling epidermal SC and fibroblast functions in healthy and diseased skin, summarise the various mechanisms of YAP/TAZ regulation and discuss
The research far shows that in the epidermis YAP and TAZ promote SC activation and cycling for development and regeneration of hair follicles (HFs) and sebaceous gland (SG) as well as interfollicular epidermis (IFE) morphogenesis, but they appear to be largely dispensable for IFE homeostasis in adult mice
Summary
The skin is the largest organ of the human body. It forms a protective interface between the body and the external environment. An astonishing heterogeneity and plasticity of dermal cell populations has recently been identified in mouse and human dermis during development and tissue regeneration, which seems to evolve with age [7,8,9,10,11]. While in the epidermis YAP/TAZ are essential to control cell growth and differentiation, in fibroblasts they function predominantly as an intracellular mechanical rheostat to sense the physical cellular environment, promoting ECM remodelling and contractility. We first give an overview of the contributions of the different epidermal SC and dermal fibroblast populations to skin tissue development, homeostasis and repair, and the roles of these cells in cancer development (chapters 2–6); in the second part, we review the existing work on the specific roles of YAP/TAZ in controlling epidermal SC and fibroblast functions in healthy and diseased skin, summarise the various mechanisms of YAP/TAZ regulation and discuss. We close this review with some future perspectives for YAP/TAZ in skin biology (chapter 12)
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