Study On The Whole-organ Culture Of Adult Hair Follicle And Regulation Of Selected Stem Cell's Proliferation And Differentiation

Skin is the largest organ in human body. Hair is the keraticfiber-like, mammal specific organ derived from epidermis, which grows on the surface of whole skin. Structure of hair follicle is complex, containing at least seven types of cells including epithelial components (hair matrix cell and outer root sheath) and mesenchymal components (follicular papilla and connective tissue sheath). Hair follicle keeps cycling growth throughout life. Each cycle includes anagen, catagen, telogen and exogen which requires the replacement of died cells with new cells. During the self-renewing of tissues, stem cell must keep proliferating and differentiating to maintain the amount of stem cells and to generate differentiated cells in order to maintain the the number and the functions of the cells. It's of great significance to investigate the mechanisms of proliferation and differentiation of hair follicle stem cells and their regulation for hair regeneration and repair of skin structures and functions after injury. The regulation of hair follicle cycle and stem cells proliferation and differentiation involve in the interaction of many pathways. A major challenge for the revealment of molecular mechanism is to establish a satisfied model.First, The effects of Minoxidil on hair follicle cycle and the possible mechanisms were investigated in hair follicle whole-organ culture model. Hair follicles were plucked from normal human scalp and place free-floating in serum free culture media. The length of hair follicles increased on average of 0.19±0.02mm in control group. Hair follicles...