Fabrication and Characterization of Epithelial Scaffolds for Hair Follicle Regeneration

May 2012 in “ Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine ”

Jiwon Oh, Jeong Il Choi, Min-Hye Kim, Syed Izhar Haider Abdi, Hui-Chong Lau, Moon Kyu Kim, Jeong Mook Lim

TLDR Scientists created three types of structures to help regrow hair follicles, and all showed promising results for hair regeneration.

In 2012, researchers developed and tested three types of epithelial scaffolds for hair follicle regeneration: bladder submucosal membrane (BSM) sponge, keratin fiber sheet, and mouse newborn epithelial skin scaffold (NESS). The BSM sponge activated melanocytes when the inductive dermal papilla sphere was inserted, indicating potential for hair regeneration. The keratin fiber sheet was found to enhance cell spreading and adhesion more effectively than the hyaluronic acid sheet. Human outer root sheath keratinocytes formed a cluster on the NESS, suggesting it could enhance the functional properties of human epithelial cells. These findings suggested that these scaffolds could be used to study follicular epithelial cell physiology and properties in vitro, and potentially aid in hair regeneration.

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