Microenvironmental Reprogramming by Three-Dimensional Culture Enables Dermal Papilla Cells to Induce De Novo Human Hair-Follicle Growth
October 2013
in “
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
”
![Image of study](/images/research/6c53bfba-3548-42a2-ab7a-0e6298c19396/medium/12845.jpg)
TLDR Growing human skin cells in a 3D environment can stimulate new hair growth.
Nine years ago, a study found that human dermal papilla cells, crucial for hair follicle development, could induce new hair follicle growth when grown in a three-dimensional (3D) culture. This was a significant finding as these cells lost their inductive properties when grown in a two-dimensional culture. The 3D culture partially restored about 22% of the cells' original gene expression, enabling them to initiate hair follicle growth in human skin. The study involved cells from seven donors and observed new hair follicles in five out of the seven donors after six weeks. This research suggested potential advances in hair restoration treatments and conditions like androgenetic alopecia.
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