Dermal Papilla Cells Induce Keratinocyte Tubulogenesis in Culture

The study explored the role of human dermal papilla (DP) cells in epidermal morphogenesis, particularly their ability to induce tubule-like structures in keratinocyte cultures, which may mimic early hair follicle development. Researchers developed a new method for isolating DP cells and found that these cells could differentiate into adipogenic and osteogenic lineages and retain alkaline phosphatase activity for several passages. However, DP cells typically lose their hair-inducing ability after multiple passages. To overcome this, DP cells were immortalized with human telomerase reverse transcriptase cDNA (hTERT), which allowed extended cultivation but resulted in reduced differentiation potential. The study demonstrated that both wild-type and immortalized DP cells could induce keratinocyte tubulogenesis, suggesting their significant role in hair follicle development and potential use in studying dermal-epidermal interactions. The number of subjects or the size of the study population was not specified in the summary.