The Skin and Its Diseases

The skin is the largest organ in the human body, and it is constantly bombarded with external stimuli. It offers protection and insulation, prevents dehydration, and senses the environment. But irritants, infections, and inherited genetic mutations cause hundreds of skin disorders, ranging from mild cosmetic conditions to serious diseases such as cancer.

Written and edited by experts in the field, this collection from Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine provides a comprehensive review of the biology of the skin, its numerous functions, and the diseases that affect it. Contributors discuss the various components of the epidermis, dermis, hair follicles, glands, and nerve endings that make up the skin, the molecular pathways and processes that underlie their development and function, and what happens when these processes go awry. The important functions of skin stem cell populations in tissue development, homeostasis, and repair are described, as are the roles of resident and recruited cells in inflammatory responses. Several chapters are devoted to cutaneous disorders, including alopecias, carcinomas, melanomas, psoriasis, and genetic diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa.

Topics such as age-related changes to the skin, the roles of resident microbes in skin health and disease, and advances in therapies for cutaneous disorders are also covered. This volume is therefore a vital reference for dermatologists, cancer biologists, cell and developmental biologists, immunologists, and all who seek to understand the numerous functions and diseases of this major organ.

Fiona M. Watt, PhD, is the Director of the Centre for Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine at
King’s College London, UK. Dr. Watt obtained her DPhil from the University of Oxford, and carried out postdoctoral research at M.I.T, Cambridge, USA. She established her first lab at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology in London, and then moved to London Research Institute. From 2006 to 2012 she was Deputy Director of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute and Deputy Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research, University of Cambridge. The major research interest of Dr. Watt’s lab is in how the differentiated state of adult tissues is maintained. They study this using mammalian skin as a model system. Current projects are concerned with self-renewal and lineage selection by human and mouse epidermal stem cells, and the role of stem cells in tumour formation. Her group is particularly interested in the interplay between intrinsic and extrinsic factors in the regulation of cell fate decisions.
Noteworthy: Watt lab paper featured on the cover of Nature (Dec 12, 2013); Dr. Watt rec’d an award from King’s College London in Nov 2013 for ＂Most Outstanding Contribution to Public Engagement.＂
In 2013 she published papers in the following journals: Nature, Dev Biol., PLoS One, Cell, J Intergrated Biology, Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol., Development, Cell Rep., eLIFE, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Anthony M. Oro, PhD, is a Professor of Dermatology at Stanford University. He is a member of Bio-X, the Child Health Research Institute, and Stanford Cancer Institute. His lab at Stanford studies skin stem cells to understand mechanisms of tissue regeneration and carcinogenesis. We have a longstanding interest in the mechanisms of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling in the hair follicle and n the pathogenesis of the most common human tumor, basal cell carcinoma (BCCs) of the skin. We have provided clinical evidence for the first hedgehog pathway inhibitor and are developing novel targets for next generation inhibitors that target the transcription factor Gli. We are studying the mechanisms of tumor evolution and the development of chemoresistance to targeted agents in both patients and mouse models using genomics and bioinformatic methods followed by functional validation.
In 2013 he published papers in the following journals: Genes & Development, Nature, Journal of Visualized Experiments, Journal of Cell Biology.