Hair follicles house a highly potent type of adult stem cells.  In addition to building and maintaining follicles and hair, hair follicle stem cells also make sweat and oil glands, and even renew neighboring skin.  So, beyond their potential for treating baldness, if available in sufficient quantity, they could be used to improve the function and appearance of skin grafts for victims of burns and other destructive skin injuries and diseases.  For many years, these hopes met only disappointment, because hair follicle stem cells seemed impossible to grow outside the body, precluding any development of cell transplant treatments and therapies. 

However, in the November 30 issue of Nature’s Scientific Reports, members of the Sherley lab at the Boston Biomedical Research Institute's Adult Stem Cell Technology Center report the successful expansion of large numbers of stem cells directly from the hair follicles of mice.  The expanded cells express a biomarker that identifies hair producing stem cells, and they produce mature cells corresponding to all three layers of the outer skin as well as oil-producing cells.  A unique feature of the expansion technology is that it promotes the multiplication of adult stem cells without loss of their tissue renewal properties.  So, when returned to their natural state, the expanded hair follicle stem cells spontaneously resume production of specialized mature cells of hair follicles and skin.  In future research, the expansion technology will be tested for its ability to produce human hair follicle stem cells suitable for clinical applications.

To learn more about the Adult Stem Cell Technology Center at BBRI, please click here. 

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