Establishment of SV40T-Transformed Human Dermal Papilla Cells and Identification of Dihydrotestosterone-Regulated Genes by cDNA Microarray

In 2007, researchers successfully established an SV40T-transformed human dermal papilla cell line (SV40T-DPC) to study the effects of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) on gene expression. They used cDNA microarray analysis to identify several genes that were regulated by DHT, including decorin, FGF7, and CTGF. The study found that these genes did not show the same regulation in normal genital skin fibroblasts treated with DHT, suggesting a potential specificity to transformed DPCs. Additionally, some genes like AFURS1 and FGF7 were up-regulated in DHT-treated balding scalp DP cells from a different patient, while decorin and CTGF exhibited similar expression patterns in balding versus non-balding DP cells. These findings indicate that the identified genes may be important in the androgen signaling pathway within DP cells and could influence hair growth and response to DHT. The research was funded by the Brain Korea 21 Project and a grant from the Korea Health 21 R&D project, Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea.