Nascent Blood Vessels in the Skin Arise from Nestin-Expressing Hair-Follicle Cells

The study found that nestin-expressing hair follicle cells in mice could generate new blood vessels in the skin, particularly during the anagen phase of hair growth. Using ND-GFP transgenic mice, researchers observed that these vessels originated from hair follicles and interconnected them. Transplantation experiments showed that ND-GFP-labeled vibrissa follicles could form blood vessels in both the skin and kidney of nude mice, with growth enhanced by skin wounding. The vessels expressed endothelial markers, confirming their identity. This suggested that hair follicle stem cells could contribute to skin angiogenesis, highlighting their potential role in wound repair and skin transplant survival, and expanding their known pluripotency.