Human Hair Follicle Dermal Papilla Cell, Dermal Sheath Cell, and Interstitial Dermal Fibroblast Characteristics

The study compared the characteristics of cultured human hair follicle dermal papilla (DP) cells, dermal sheath (DS) cells, and interstitial dermal fibroblasts (DF cells) from scalp tissue. DP and DS cells exhibited aggregative behavior and expressed smooth muscle alpha-actin, unlike DF cells. Both DP and DS cells synthesized more glycosaminoglycans than DF cells, and some strains formed intranuclear rodlets, which DF cells did not. The study found that DP cells produced the highest levels of TGF-beta 2, followed by DS and DF cells. IL-6 and IGF-I were present in the conditioned media of all cell types, but other cytokines and growth factors were undetectable. The findings indicated that DP and DS cells were morphologically and functionally distinct from DF cells, with minor differences suggesting different functional or differentiation states between DP and DS cells.