CD133 defines hair-inductive cells in the dermal papilla
Abstract A major contributing factor to the failure of cell-based human hair follicle (HF) engineering is our inability to cultivate highly specialized, inductive mesenchymal fibroblasts, which reside in a unique niche at the HF base, called the dermal papilla (DP). We and other groups have discover...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-05487-y |
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| Summary: | Abstract A major contributing factor to the failure of cell-based human hair follicle (HF) engineering is our inability to cultivate highly specialized, inductive mesenchymal fibroblasts, which reside in a unique niche at the HF base, called the dermal papilla (DP). We and other groups have discovered a unique DP fibroblast subpopulation that can be identified by the cell surface marker CD133. However, the biological difference between CD133-positive (CD133+) and CD133-negative (CD133-) DP cells remains unknown. Using a newly developed double fluorescent transgenic mouse strain, we isolated CD133 + and CD133- DP cells from mouse anagen HFs. In monolayer culture, both DP populations gradually lost expression of the anagen DP signature gene, versican. When maintained in three-dimensional spheroid culture, versican expression was restored in both CD133 + and CD133- DP cells. Importantly, CD133 + DP spheroids appeared more compact, showed stronger alkaline phosphatase staining (AP), and expressed higher levels of DP signature genes. In in vivo skin reconstitution assays, mice grafted with CD133 + DP spheroids grew more hairs in healed wounds than those grafted with CD133- DP spheroids. The data underscore the importance of CD133 + DP cells as a driver of HF formation, which may present a unique opportunity to improve the use of human DP cells in tissue-engineered skin substitutes (TESS). |
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| ISSN: | 2045-2322 |