The establishment and characterization of immortalized human dermal papilla cells and their hair growth promoting effects

In the 2010 study, researchers created an immortalized human dermal papilla cell (DPC) line by introducing SV40T and c-myc genes into early-passage human DPCs. These cells preserved key DPC properties and expressed specific markers over 30 passages, with a faster doubling time of 2 days compared to the more than 3.5 days of primary DPCs. The immortalized DPCs showed increased expression of genes related to cell cycle and proliferation. When the conditioned media from these cells were applied to C57/BL6 mice, there was a significant increase in hair weight, indicating a promotion of hair growth. Additionally, the cell line was confirmed to be non-tumorigenic in SCID mice after 12 weeks. The study suggested that the immortalized DPC line is a valuable model for hair growth studies and for identifying new hair growth-promoting compounds.