Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Hair Follicle Bulge Neural Crest Stem Cells

The study investigated the potential of hair follicle bulge neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) to be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) with fewer exogenous factors due to their endogenous expression of pluripotency genes. Despite confirming the presence of these genes, the results showed that hair follicle bulge NCSCs still required a full set of reprogramming factors to induce pluripotency, achieving efficiencies similar to fibroblasts. The conclusion was that high endogenous levels of pluripotency factors did not necessarily facilitate easier induction of pluripotency.