Follicular Dermal Papilla Structures by Organization of Epithelial and Mesenchymal Cells in Interfacial Polyelectrolyte Complex Fibers

In 2013, researchers engineered 3D hair follicle structures by co-culturing human dermal papilla (DP) cells and keratinocytes using a technique called Multicomponent Interfacial Polyelectrolyte Complexation (MIPC). These structures resembled natural hair follicles and showed increased gene expression related to hair follicle development. When implanted into SCID mice, they induced hair follicle-like structures, suggesting potential for hair growth induction. The study also demonstrated that these constructs could be used for in vitro drug testing, as they responded to hair growth promoters and inhibitors, such as hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and transforming growth factor B2 (TGFB2), respectively. This research indicated that the engineered follicular structures could be a valuable tool for studying hair biology and testing hair growth treatments.