Hair Follicle Regeneration From Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
January 2017
in “
Journal of clinical & experimental dermatology research
”
hair follicle regeneration human pluripotent stem cells human embryonic stem cells induced pluripotent stem cells CD200+/ITGA6+ bulge stem cells epithelial components hair follicle trichogenic mice dermal cells immunodeficient Nude mice hair shaft inner root sheath outer root sheath keratin-15 alopecia hESCs hiPSCs BSCs HF Nude mice K15
TLDR Scientists have found a way to create hair follicles from human stem cells, which could potentially be used to treat hair loss.
In 2017, researchers developed a method to differentiate human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into CD200+/ITGA6+ bulge stem cells (BSCs) that can reconstitute the epithelial components of the hair follicle (HF). The co-transplantation of these hESCs or hiPSC-derived CD200+/ITGA6+ cells with trichogenic mice dermal cells into immunodeficient Nude mice resulted in HF formation. The newly formed HFs contained all HF lineages, including the hair shaft, and the inner and outer root sheaths. Human HF stem cell markers such as keratin-15 were detected in the reconstituted HFs, and the human origin of the epithelial cells in the new HFs was confirmed. This development suggested a significant step towards developing cell-based treatments for alopecia.