Generation and Integration of Hair Follicle-Primed Spheroids in Bioengineered Skin Constructs
October 2022
in “
Biomedical Materials
”
hair follicle-primed spheroids bioengineered skin constructs epithelial keratinocytes hair follicle lineage dermal papilla cells spheroids hair follicle lineage gene expression DFN media NTERT-DP spheroids skin replacement therapies drug discovery functional hair follicles reconstituted skin constructs hair follicle spheroids skin constructs keratinocytes hair lineage DP cells hair gene expression media composition culture conditions skin therapies hair follicles
TLDR Researchers made progress in creating skin with hair by integrating special cell clusters.
The study focused on developing methods to create hair follicle-bearing human skin constructs by priming epithelial keratinocytes (KCs) towards the hair follicle lineage and integrating them with dermal papilla (DP) cells to form spheroids. These spheroids were incorporated into skin constructs, resulting in invaginations with hair follicle lineage gene expression. The research demonstrated that using DFN media supported the highest expression of hair follicle markers, although long-term maturation required additional structural support. The study found that 61% of NTERT-DP spheroids showed successful integration and outgrowth, emphasizing the importance of media composition and culture conditions. This advancement held potential for enhancing skin replacement therapies and drug discovery by integrating functional hair follicles into reconstituted skin constructs.
