Culturing of Melanocytes from the Equine Hair Follicle Outer Root Sheath

January 2021 in “ Processes ”

Hanluo Li, Jule Kristin Michler, Alexander K. Bartella, Anna Katharina Sander, Sebastian Gaus, Sebastian Hahnel, Rüdiger Zimmerer, Jan‐Christoph Simon, Vuk Savković, Bernd Lethaus

melanocytes outer root sheath ORS hair follicles melanin gene expression regenerative medicine

Studysummary This study adapted a method for culturing melanocytes from human hair follicles to horses, successfully creating partially melanotic equine melanocytes, potentially advancing hair follicle biology research across species. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.

The study successfully adapted a method for culturing human melanocytes to equine melanocytes from the outer root sheath (ORS) of horse hair follicles, using equine serum in the culture medium. The cultured equine melanocytes (eMORS) exhibited typical melanocyte morphology, expressed key melanocytic markers, and produced melanin. The primary culture reached 90% confluence within 2 to 4 weeks, and gene expression analysis showed stable expression of melanocyte markers over multiple passages. This method provided a foundation for further research into equine hair follicle biology and potential applications in regenerative medicine.

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