US Patent 7476538 Method for enhancing keratinocyte stem cells

The enrichment of a population of keratinocyte stem cells (KSCs) from a preparation of keratinocytes and KSCs, includes pre-enrichment by contacting a sample of keratinocytes and KSCs with a collagen-coated culture plate for a sufficient time for KSCs to adhere, followed by washing away the non-adherent cells and recovering the adherent cells. The recovered adherent cells are sorted by their expression level of EGFR so that cells are recovered that have an expression level of EGFR of less than about 50% of the maximum level of EGFR expression, and the recovered cells have an expansion potential of at least 109 after about 100 days in culture.