Exogenous connective tissue growth factor preserves the hair-inductive ability of human dermal papilla cells

LncRNA-599547 contributes the inductive property of dermal papilla cells in cashmere goat through miR-15b-5p/Wnt10b axis

The lncRNA-599547 (619-nt in length) is identified in secondary hair follicle (SHF) of cashmere goat, but its functional roles in regulating the inductive property of dermal papilla cells (DPCs) remains unknown. We found that lncRNA-599547 had significantly higher expression in dermal papilla of cashmere goat SHF at anagen than its counterpart at telogen. The overexpression of lncRNA-599547 led to a significant increase of ALP and LEF1 expression in DPCs (p < 0.05), whereas, the siLncRNA-1 mediated silencing of lncRNA-599547 significantly down-regulated the expression of ALP and LEF1 in DPCs (p < 0.05). Based on biotin-labeled RNA pull-down assay, we found that lncRNA-599547 directly interacted with chi-miR-15b-5p in DPCs. Based on both overexpression and silencing analysis of lncRNA-599547, our results indicate that lncRNA-599547 promotes the expression of Wnt10b in DPCs but without modulating its promoter methylation level. Using the mRNA-3'UTR fragments of goat Wnt10b containing the predicted binding sites of chi-miR-15b-5p in Dual-luciferase Reporter Assays, we show that lncRNA-599547 modulates the expression of Wnt10b at the chi-miR-15b-5p mediated post-transcriptional level. Taken together, our results indicate that lncRNA-599547 sponges miR-15b-5p to positively regulate the expression of Wnt10 gene, and thereby contributes the inductive property of DPCs in cashmere goat.

Review of Hair Follicle Dermal Papilla cells as in vitro screening model for hair growth

Hair disorders such as hair loss (alopecia) and androgen dependent, excessive hair growth (hirsutism, hypertrichosis) may impact the social and psychological well-being of an individual. Recent advances in understanding the biology of hair have accelerated the research and development of novel therapeutic and cosmetic hair growth agents. Preclinical models aid in dermocosmetic efficacy testing and claim substantiation of hair growth modulators. The in vitro models to investigate hair growth utilize the hair follicle Dermal Papilla cells (DPCs), specialized mesenchymal cells located at the base of hair follicle that play essential roles in hair follicular morphogenesis and postnatal hair growth cycles. In this review, we have compiled and discussed the extensively reported literature citing DPCs as in vitro model to study hair growth promoting and inhibitory effects. A variety of agents such as herbal and natural extracts, growth factors and cytokines, platelet-rich plasma, placental extract, stem cells and conditioned medium, peptides, hormones, lipid-nanocarrier, light, electrical and electromagnetic field stimulation, androgens and their analogs, stress-serum and chemotherapeutic agents etc. have been examined for their hair growth modulating effects in DPCs. Effects on DPCs' activity were determined from untreated (basal) or stress induced levels. Cell proliferation, apoptosis and secretion of growth factors were included as primary end-point markers. Effects on a wide range of biomolecules and mechanistic pathways that play key role in the biology of hair growth were also investigated. This consolidated and comprehensive review summarizes the up-to-date information and understanding regarding DPCs based screening models for hair growth and may be helpful for researchers to select the appropriate assay system and biomarkers. This review highlights the pivotal role of DPCs in the forefront of hair research as screening platforms by providing insights into mechanistic action at cellular level, which may further direct the development of novel hair growth modulators.

Establishment of an immortalized mouse dermal papilla cell strain with optimized culture strategy

Dermal papilla (DP) plays important roles in hair follicle regeneration. Long-term culture of mouse DP cells can provide enough cells for research and application of DP cells. We optimized the culture strategy for DP cells from three dimensions: stepwise dissection, collagen I coating, and optimized culture medium. Based on the optimized culture strategy, we immortalized primary DP cells with SV40 large T antigen, and established several immortalized DP cell strains. By comparing molecular expression and morphologic characteristics with primary DP cells, we found one cell strain named iDP6 was similar with primary DP cells. Further identifications illustrate that iDP6 expresses FGF7 and α-SMA, and has activity of alkaline phosphatase. During the process of characterization of immortalized DP cell strains, we also found that cells in DP were heterogeneous. We successfully optimized culture strategy for DP cells, and established an immortalized DP cell strain suitable for research and application of DP cells.