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Review
. 2020 Jun 26;12(6):462-470.
doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v12.i6.462.

Human hair follicle-derived mesenchymal stem cells: Isolation, expansion, and differentiation

Bo Wang  1 , Xiao-Mei Liu  1 , Zi-Nan Liu  1 , Yuan Wang  1 , Xing Han  1 , Ao-Bo Lian  1 , Ying Mu  2 , Ming-Hua Jin  1 , Jin-Yu Liu  3
Affiliations
Review

Human hair follicle-derived mesenchymal stem cells: Isolation, expansion, and differentiation

Bo Wang et al. World J Stem Cells. .

Abstract

Hair follicles are easily accessible skin appendages that protect against cold and potential injuries. Hair follicles contain various pools of stem cells, such as epithelial, melanocyte, and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that continuously self-renew, differentiate, regulate hair growth, and maintain skin homeostasis. Recently, MSCs derived from the dermal papilla or dermal sheath of the human hair follicle have received attention because of their accessibility and broad differentiation potential. In this review, we describe the applications of human hair follicle-derived MSCs (hHF-MSCs) in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. We have described protocols for isolating hHF-MSCs from human hair follicles and their culture condition in detail. We also summarize strategies for maintaining hHF-MSCs in a highly proliferative but undifferentiated state after repeated in vitro passages, including supplementation of growth factors, 3D suspension culture technology, and 3D aggregates of MSCs. In addition, we report the potential of hHF-MSCs in obtaining induced smooth muscle cells and tissue-engineered blood vessels, regenerated hair follicles, induced red blood cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells. In summary, the abundance, convenient accessibility, and broad differentiation potential make hHF-MSCs an ideal seed cell source of regenerative medical and cell therapy.

Keywords: Cell differentiation; Human hair follicle; Mesenchymal stem cell; Regenerative therapy; Tissue engineering.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: Liu JY reports grants from the China National Natural Science Foundation, grants from the Joint Construction Project between Jilin Province and Provincial Colleges, grants from the Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Plan, grants from the Innovative Special Industry Fund Project in Jilin Province, grants from the Open Research Project of the State Key Laboratory of Industrial Control Technology, Zhejiang University, China, during the conduct of the study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic of the human hair follicle. An intact hair follicle usually includes the inner root sheath, outer root sheath, and connective tissue sheath (dermal sheath). The human hair follicle mesenchymal stem cells lie within the dermal papilla or dermal sheath (connective tissue sheath) of the hair follicle. Citation: Kiani MT, Higgins CA, Almquist BD. The Hair Follicle: An Underutilized Source of Cells and Materials for Regenerative Medicine. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2018; 4: 1193-1207. Copyright© The Authors 2018. Published by American Chemical Society.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Isolation of human hair follicle mesenchymal stem cells. Human hair follicle mesenchymal stem cells migrating out of the dermal sheath or papilla show the morphological appearance of fibroblast-like cells. Bar: 200 μm. Citation: Jiang Y, Liu F, Zou F, Zhang Y, Wang B, Zhang Y, Lian A, Han X, Liu Z, Liu X, Jin M, Wang D, Li G, Liu J. PBX homeobox 1 enhances hair follicle mesenchymal stem cell proliferation and reprogramming through activation of the AKT/glycogen synthase kinase signaling pathway and suppression of apoptosis. Stem Cell Res Ther 2019; 10: 268. Copyright© The Authors 2019. Published by Springer Nature.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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