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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Feb 4.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2018 Feb 4;49:116–122. doi: 10.1016/j.ceb.2018.01.003

Figure 2. Epicenters located within super enhancers govern normal epithelial cell fate and wound repair requires the dual activation of epidermal and hair follicle gene expression through a wound-specific epicenter.

Figure 2

(A) The epidermis and hair follicle represent two distinct cell fates that are maintained by separate stem cells. The epidermal stem cells express Klf5 and the hair follicle stem cells express Sox9. In each case, their expression is regulated by a specific epicenter within a larger super enhancer. (B) In the case of wounding, stress-induced regulatory elements are activated to transiently allow cell plasticity. A new wound epicenter results in the co-expression of Klf5 and Sox9. This transient co-expression of epidermal and hair follicle genes is required for wound repair. (C) In tumors, the expression of stress-induced and epidermal and hair follicle lineage-specific transcription factors are sustained, resulting in the expression of oncogenes. This induction is engendered through the formation of a new tumor epicenter that occurs alongside a wound epicenter. Blue: epidermis; yellow: hair follicle; magenta: wound; black: tumor.