Ablation of Alkaline Phosphatase in Human Dermal Papilla Spheroid Impairs Hair Follicle Induction

Seven years ago, a study conducted by M. Kwack at Kyungpook National University in Korea demonstrated that alkaline phosphatase (ALP) plays a critical role in hair follicle neogenesis. The study showed that sphere formation increased the ability of cultured human dermal papilla (DP) cells to induce hair follicles from mouse epidermal cells. ALP activity, which was found to be correlated with the hair-inducing capacity of murine DP cells, was significantly restored in human DP spheres. However, when ALP was knocked down using small interfering RNA (siRNA), a significant impairment in hair follicle induction was observed. This suggests that ALP is crucial for the maintenance of trichogenicity, or the ability to generate hair.