Generating Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells with a High-Efficiency, Non-Invasive Method: An Improved Way to Cultivate Keratinocytes from Plucked Hair for Reprogramming
June 2022
in “
Cells
”
TLDR The conclusion is that the new method makes collecting cells from plucked hair to create stem cells more efficient and less invasive.
The study presents an improved, non-invasive method for generating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from keratinocytes obtained from plucked hair. The research involved seven healthy donors and found that exposure of hair follicles to air and the medium used for transportation and storage significantly affected the outgrowth of keratinocytes. The best medium for transporting and storing hair follicles was DMEM, with 100% of hair follicles stored in DMEM for 24 hours producing viable, growing keratinocytes. However, the number of outgrowing hair follicles decreased with longer storage time. The study also found that the EpiLife medium performed best in the cultivation of hair follicle-derived keratinocytes. The generated iPSC colonies were found to be pluripotent and able to differentiate into all three germ layers. This method provides a non-invasive and efficient way to generate iPSCs, which could be useful in various biomedical applications.