The Microfollicle: A Model of the Human Hair Follicle for In Vitro Studies

November 2020 in “ In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Animal ”

Beren Ataç, Flora Marta Kiss, Tobias Lam, Beatrix Fauler, Clemens Edler, Ping Hu, Thi Phuong Tao, Marian Jädicke, Isabel Rütschle, Reza P. Azar, Scott R. Youngquist, Thorsten Mielke, Uwe Marx, Roland Lauster, G Lindner, Teresa DiColandrea

microfollicle organoid model hair follicle 3D differentiation platform keratin expression gene expression minoxidil hair-growth compound Rogaine

TLDR Microfollicles can effectively model human hair follicles for research and testing.

The study investigated the microfollicle, an organoid model of the human hair follicle, designed to replicate the complex interactions and markers of hair follicles in vitro. This model used a co-culture of primary cells to form a 3D differentiation platform and was adapted for medium-throughput testing in 96-well plates. The microfollicles exhibited hair-specific keratin expression and showed up to 75% overlap in gene expression with human clinical biopsy samples in response to minoxidil, a hair-growth compound. The study concluded that microfollicles could be a valuable tool for studying hair follicle development and for pre-clinical testing of substances.

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