Many organs rely on somatic stem cells for continuous turnover, regeneration and repair. Skin stem cells have emerged as a paradigm to study stem cell regulation. The skin forms a barrier between an organism and its external environment and must integrate multiple external cues in order to adapt to environmental fluctuations to maintain tissue integrity for the survival of an organism. Nevertheless, the cellular and molecular mechanism responsible for conveying information from the external world (such as temperature, humidity, etc.) to regulate adult stem cell function is largely unknown.

Our previous work has demonstrated that sympathetic nerves form direct contacts with hair follicle stem cells to provide continuous input in both steady state and following cold exposure. This facilitates the coupling between stem cell activity and tissue production with environmental changes.

Capitalizing on this, the Shwartz Lab studies the multiple levels of interaction between environmental stimuli and stem cells in homeostasis, wound healing and aging. Our ultimate goal is to pinpoint potential unknown regulatory signals and networks that could be harnessed to control stem cells for the treatment of diseases and conditions such as chronic non-healing wounds.