Tissue Engineered Human Hair Follicles from Genetically, Environmentally, and Extrinsically Reprogrammed Dermal Papilla Cells
tissue engineering 3D-printing technology hair follicle-like microchannels human skin equivalents dermal papilla cells 3D spheroids epidermal-mesenchymal interactions Lef-1 hair follicle differentiation hair follicle layers hair fiber growth exogenous small molecules Wnt signaling Jak-STAT signaling hair follicle induction cultured human cells 3D printing HSEs DPs hair growth Wnt Jak-STAT
Studysummary This study reports that incorporating Lef-1 transfected dermal papilla cells into human skin equivalents significantly promoted hair follicle differentiation and hair fiber growth, offering a potential advancement for managing skin loss. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.
Researchers developed a tissue engineering strategy using 3D-printing technology to create hair follicle-like microchannels on human skin equivalents (HSEs), allowing dermal papilla cells (DPs) to form 3D spheroids and initiate epidermal-mesenchymal interactions. By overexpressing Lef-1, a master regulator of the inductive DP gene signature, they significantly promoted hair follicle differentiation. Prolonged culture of these constructs resulted in well-defined hair follicle layers and hair fiber growth. Additionally, they enhanced hair follicle induction by testing various exogenous small molecules targeting Wnt and Jak-STAT signaling. This method showed potential for regenerating entire hair follicles from cultured human cells, which could significantly impact the medical management of patients with significant skin loss.
