During the production of a hair, the follicle undergoes dynamic changes from an actively growing phase (anagen), to a remodeling phase (catagen), and finally to a quiescent phase (telogen), only to start growing again. Two key elements that control hair follicle cycling are the follicular epithelial stem cells and the specialized mesenchymal cells that constitute the follicular papilla. This overview and the subsequent presentations of the workshop focus on the hair follicle stem cells. The workshop on Hair Follicle Stem Cells brought together investigators who have used a variety of approaches to try to understand the biology of follicular epithelial stem cells, and the role that these cells play in regulating the hair cycle. One of the main concepts to emerge from this workshop is that follicular epithelial stem cells are multipotent, capable of giving rise not only to all the cell types of the hair, but also to the epidermis and the sebaceous gland. Furthermore, such multipotent stem cells may represent the ultimate epidermal stem cell. Review articles are the summary of current state of understanding on a particular research topic. Review article comes in the form of systematic reviews and literature reviews and are a form of secondary literature. Systematic reviews determine an objective list of criteria, and find all previously published original research papers that meet the criteria. They then compare the results presented in these papers. Literature reviews, by contrast, provide a summary of what the authors believe are the best and most relevant prior publications. The concept of "review article" is separate from the concept of peer-reviewed literature. It is possible for a review to be peer-reviewed, and it is possible for a review to be non-peer-reviewed.
Last date updated on September, 2024