Evaluating the Characteristics of Human Hair Follicle Dermal Papilla Cells in Aggregation Culture Procedure

This study investigated the use of a 3D culture approach for human hair follicle dermal papilla cells (hHF-DPCs) using microtube-based forced aggregation. The researchers tested three cell densities and found that densities of 10^5 and 2 × 10^5 cells/mL successfully formed stable spheroids within 24 hours, maintaining their structure for up to 10 days. These 3D spheroids showed enhanced expression of key biological markers such as ALP, versican, and CD133, compared to traditional 2D cultures, while α-SMA expression was downregulated. The findings suggest that 3D culture better preserves the characteristic properties of hHF-DPCs, which are crucial for hair follicle regeneration.