TLDR Hair follicle cells can help heal wounds and study skin diseases.
The pilosebaceous unit, consisting of a hair follicle and sebaceous gland, was crucial for studying diseases like alopecia and acne, as well as skin epithelial stem cells. The epithelial cells from the outer root sheaths of hair follicles were pluripotent and could re-epithelialize the epidermis to heal wounds.
385 citations
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November 1990 in “Journal of Cell Science” Human hair follicles can grow in a lab setting.
135 citations
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November 1987 in “Differentiation” Outer root sheath cells consistently express certain keratins influenced by their environment.
October 2018 in “Springer eBooks” The document concludes that various hair disorders have different treatments, including medication, surgery, and addressing underlying causes.
43 citations
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April 2010 in “Developmental Biology” Sebaceous glands can form new hair follicles when activated, but hair follicle bulges cannot.
10 citations
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October 2000 in “PubMed” E6/E7 oncogenes in hair follicles cause continuous hair growth by skipping the resting phase.
122 citations
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July 1994 in “Journal of Investigative Dermatology” 
94 citations
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February 1994 in “The journal of investigative dermatology/Journal of investigative dermatology” EGF makes hair follicles grow longer but stops hair production.
