Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Ectodermal Precursor Cells Contribute to Hair Follicle Morphogenesis In Vivo
January 2013
in “
The journal of investigative dermatology/Journal of investigative dermatology
”
human induced pluripotent stem cells ectodermal precursor cells hair follicle morphogenesis hair follicle hiPSC-EPCs human dermal papilla cells follicular keratinocyte markers WNT-activated state trichogenic mice dermal cells immunodeficient mice epithelial-mesenchymal interactions HF bioengineering hiPSCs DP cells WNT signaling hair follicle formation hair growth
TLDR Human stem cells can help form hair follicles in mice.
In this study, researchers demonstrated that human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived ectodermal precursor cells (hiPSC-EPCs) could contribute to hair follicle (HF) morphogenesis in vivo. They generated EPCs from hiPSCs, particularly the 201B7 line, and found that these cells, when co-cultured with human dermal papilla (DP) cells, showed significant upregulation of follicular keratinocyte markers and were in a WNT-activated state. Co-transplantation of 201B7 hiPSC-EPCs with trichogenic mice dermal cells into immunodeficient mice resulted in HF formation, with human-specific markers detected in the hair shafts and matrix. Although the direct contribution of hiPSC-EPCs to HF structures was low, the study highlighted their potential in enhancing epithelial-mesenchymal interactions for HF bioengineering and suggested the need for organ-specific in vitro screening methods to assess the functional aspects of hiPSC lines.