title: A simple assay for the study of human hair follicle damage induced by ionizing irradiation.
abstract: Due to its rapidly proliferating matrix keratinocytes, the hair follicle is highly sensitive to ionizing irradiation (IR)-induced skin damage and thus an instructive and clinically relevant model organ for investigating the effects of IR on rapidly dividing epithelial-mesenchymal interaction systems. Here, we have assessed the impact of IR on organ-cultured human scalp hair follicles. We show that IR significantly inhibits the proliferation and induces apoptosis of hair follicle matrix keratinocytes, disrupts normal hair follicle pigmentation, and upregulates a number of quantitative toxicity and viability markers (oxidative stress indicators, DNA oxidative damage, LDH release). This introduces human hair follicle organ culture as an excellent novel research tool for radiobiology and invites exploitation as a preclinical assay system for testing candidate radioprotectants.
authors.forename: Burkhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Poeggeler
authors.forename: Enikö
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bodó
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nadrowitz
authors.forename: Juergen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dunst
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paus
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000528:radiation effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000528:radiation effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000528:radiation effects; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000166:cytology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000528:radiation effects; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000528:radiation effects; D011839:Radiation, Ionizing