Evaluation of Hair Follicles as a Surrogate Tissue for Pharmacodynamic Response in Xenograft Tumors

January 2012

Mary‐Kamala Menon

hair follicles pharmacodynamic response xenograft tumors Notch-driven model gamma-secretase inhibitor hair growth synchronization qPCR assay gene expression patterns

Studysummary This research suggests that plucked hair follicles may serve as a reliable surrogate tissue for tumor biopsies in drug development, based on a mouse model linking hair and tumor pharmacodynamic responses. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.

The study evaluated hair follicles as a surrogate tissue for pharmacodynamic response in xenograft tumors, aiming to facilitate rapid drug development in oncology. Using a Notch-driven mouse xenograft model responsive to a gamma-secretase inhibitor, researchers compared plucked hair, skin biopsies, and whiskers as surrogate tissues. They induced hair growth synchronization in mice and collected various samples during each hair cycle phase. A qPCR assay was developed for hair phase identification, and gene expression patterns were analyzed. The findings suggested that hair follicles could serve as a reliable surrogate tissue, potentially enabling quicker clinical decisions regarding target modulation and treatment.

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