23 Jul DIFFERENTIATED CELLS
Abstract
The adult hair follicle dermal papilla and dermal sheath cell are developmentally active cell populations with a proven role in adult hair follicle cycling activity and unique inductive powers. In stein cell biology, the hair follicle epithelium has recently been the subject of a great deal of investigation, but up to now the follicle dermis has been largely overlooked as a source of stein cells. Following the sporadic appearance of muscle, lipid and bone-type cells in discretely isolated follicle dermal papilla and sheath cell primary cultures, we demonstrated that cultured papilla and sheath cell lines were capable of being directed to lipid and bone differentiation. Subsequently, for the First time, we produced clonal dermal papilla and sheath lines that had extended proliferative capabilities. Dye exclusion has been reported to be an identifying feature of stein cells, therefore clonal papilla and sheath lines with differing capacity to exclude rhodamine (123) were cultured in medium known to induce adipocyte and osteocyte differentiation. Both dermal sheath and dermal papilla-derived clones showed the capacity to make lipid and to produce calcified material, however different clones had varied behaviour and there was no obvious correlation between their stein cell capabilities, and dye exclusion or selected gene expression markers. As a highly accessible source, capable of being discretely isolated, the follicle has important potential as a stein cell source for tissue engineering and cell therapy purposes. It will also be interesting to compare follicle dermal stein cell properties with the broader stein cell capabilities discovered in skin dermis, and investigate whether the follicle is a key dermal stein cell niche. Finally, the discovery of stein cells in the dermis may have implications for certain pathologies in which abnormal differentiation occurs in the skin.
Year: 2005
Country: WO
Doc No: 2005059119