Wnt signaling in skin organogenesis.

While serving as the interface between an organism and its environment, the skin also can elaborate a wide range of skin appendages to service specific purposes in a region-specific fashion. As in other organs, Wnt signaling plays a key role in regulating the proliferation, differentiation and motility of skin cells during their morphogenesis. Here I will review some of the recent work that has been done on skin organogenesis. I will cover dermis formation, the development of skin appendages, cycling of appendages in the adult, stem cell regulation, patterning, orientation, regional specificity and modulation by sex hormone nuclear receptors. I will also cover their roles in wound healing, hair regeneration and skin related diseases. It appears that Wnt signaling plays essential but distinct roles in different hierarchical levels of morphogenesis and organogenesis. Many of these areas have not yet been fully explored but are certainly promising areas of future research.