| First Author | Ford NC | Year | 2024 |
| Journal | Cell Rep | Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 7 | Pages | 114347 |
| PubMed ID | 38941190 | Mgi Jnum | J:353738 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:7707508 | Doi | 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114347 |
| Citation | Ford NC, et al. (2024) Hair follicles modulate skin barrier function. Cell Rep 43(7):114347 |
| abstractText | Our skin provides a protective barrier that shields us from our environment. Barrier function is typically associated with the interfollicular epidermis; however, whether hair follicles influence this process remains unclear. Here, we utilize a potent genetic tool to probe barrier function by conditionally ablating a quintessential epidermal barrier gene, Abca12, which is mutated in the most severe skin barrier disease, harlequin ichthyosis. With this tool, we deduced 4 ways by which hair follicles modulate skin barrier function. First, the upper hair follicle (uHF) forms a functioning barrier. Second, barrier disruption in the uHF elicits non-cell-autonomous responses in the epidermis. Third, deleting Abca12 in the uHF impairs desquamation and blocks sebum release. Finally, barrier perturbation causes uHF cells to move into the epidermis. Neutralizing IL-17a, whose expression is enriched in the uHF, partially alleviated some disease phenotypes. Altogether, our findings implicate hair follicles as multi-faceted regulators of skin barrier function. |
