TITLE: Reconstitution of human hair follicles using fetal epidermal and dermal cells
AUTHORS (FIRST NAME INITIAL LAST NAME): C. Yang1, 2, D. Gay2, G. Cotsarelis2
INSTITUTIONS (ALL): 1. Dermatology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
2. Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
ABSTRACT BODY: Reconstitution of hair follicles has been established by using dissociated cells from murine skin, but a reconstitution assay for human hair follicles is still lacking. The aim of our study was to develop a reconstitution assay for human hair follicles. We used human fetal scalp, 16 to 18 weeks gestational age, to provide the starting cell populations for hair follicle reconstitution. Epidermis and dermis were separated and single cells isolated from scalp tissue. The cells were recombined and injected into the back skin of immunodeficient mice. 3 weeks after injection, hair germs were evident. By 5 weeks, fully formed hair follicles and pigmented hair shafts were visible. The regenerated hair follicles contained all follicular epithelial lineages. The human origin of the regenerated follicles was confirmed using in situ hybridization for Alu DNA repeats specific for human. To test whether Matrigel facilitates survival and growth of the cell grafts, we added Matrigel to the suspension of cells before injection. We found that Matrigel rescued trichogenicity and resulted in a higher number of regenerated hair follicles.
AUTHORS (FIRST NAME INITIAL LAST NAME): C. Yang1, 2, D. Gay2, G. Cotsarelis2
INSTITUTIONS (ALL): 1. Dermatology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
2. Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
ABSTRACT BODY: Reconstitution of hair follicles has been established by using dissociated cells from murine skin, but a reconstitution assay for human hair follicles is still lacking. The aim of our study was to develop a reconstitution assay for human hair follicles. We used human fetal scalp, 16 to 18 weeks gestational age, to provide the starting cell populations for hair follicle reconstitution. Epidermis and dermis were separated and single cells isolated from scalp tissue. The cells were recombined and injected into the back skin of immunodeficient mice. 3 weeks after injection, hair germs were evident. By 5 weeks, fully formed hair follicles and pigmented hair shafts were visible. The regenerated hair follicles contained all follicular epithelial lineages. The human origin of the regenerated follicles was confirmed using in situ hybridization for Alu DNA repeats specific for human. To test whether Matrigel facilitates survival and growth of the cell grafts, we added Matrigel to the suspension of cells before injection. We found that Matrigel rescued trichogenicity and resulted in a higher number of regenerated hair follicles.