From Precursor/Stem Cells To Cordocytic Phenotypes In The Skin

This cytohistopathological study was performed to have a better knowledge of the continuum of cellular events, from mesenchymal stem cells to mature cordocytic phenotypes with their morphological heterogeneity and multiple functions in the human skin. We used light microscopy, as well as transmission and scanning electron microscopy to study multiple tissue fragments obtained by skin biopsy from post-burn tissue, surrounding superficial temporal artery, and skin, in cases with urticaria pigmentosa, Fabry’s diffuse angiokeratoma, allergic vasculitis, hypodermitis, as well as basocellular nevomatosis and basocellular carcinoma. Our observations proved that the cordocytes appear from precursor/stem cells only outside the pericytes in the case of nascent dermal vessels, or from mesenchymal cells of the connective tissue surrounding superficial temporal artery within their niches, and they are responsible for multiple functions, especially protective for vessels and nerves in the reticular dermis. Their spatial and temporal interactions, either with each other or with another phenotype, undifferentiated or differentiated cells, and their implications in skin diseases, with changing phenotypes, position, and number, merit much more interest in further comprehensive studies. Our results showed that these protective interstitial cells promote useful interactions, influencing differentiation and fate of cells closely surrounded by them, as well as preventing or delaying some pathological processes.