Substantial sex-dependent differences in the response of human scalp hair follicles to estrogen stimulation in vitro advocate gender-tailored management of female versus male pattern balding.
In this study, it was investigated how estrogens (17-beta-estradiol, E2) affect the estrogen receptor (ER) expression and gene regulation of male versus female human scalp hair follicles in vitro. Anagen VI follicles from frontotemporal scalp skin were microdissected and organ-cultured for up to 9 d in the presence of E2 (1-100 nm). Immunohistochemistry was performed for ERbeta-expression, known to be predominant in human scalp hair follicles, and for TGF-beta2-expression (as negative key hair growth modulator), and E2-responsive genes in organ-cultured human scalp hair follicles (48 h, 10 nM) were explored by cDNA microarray, using a commercial skin focus chip (Memorec, Cologne, Germany). The distribution pattern of ERbeta and TGF-beta2-immunoreactivity differed between male and female hair follicles after 48 h culture. Of 1300 genes tested, several genes were regulated sex-dependent differently. The study reveals substantial sex-dependent differences in the response of frontotemporal human scalp hair follicles to E2. Recognition and systematic dissection of the E2-dependent gene regulation will be crucial for the development of more effective, gender-tailored management strategies for female versus male pattern balding.
Conrad
Franziska
F
Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Ohnemus
Ulrich
U
Bodo
Enikö
E
Biro
Tamas
T
Tychsen
Birte
B
Gerstmayer
Bernhard
B
Bosio
Andreas
A
Schmidt-Rose
Thomas
T
Altgilbers
Silke
S
Bettermann
Albrecht
A
Saathoff
Matthias
M
Meyer
Wilfried
W
Paus
Ralf
R
D000505:Alopecia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D004958:Estradiol / Q000378:metabolism*; D047629:Estrogen Receptor beta / Q000378:metabolism*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012535:Scalp / Q000378:metabolism*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism
D047629:Estrogen Receptor beta; D004967:Estrogens; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D004958:Estradiol