title: Protocols for Ectopic Hair Growth from Transplanted Whisker Follicles on the Spinal Cord of Mice.
abstract: Isolated whisker follicles from nestin-driven green fluorescent protein (ND-GFP) mice, containing hair-associated pluripotent (HAP) stem cells, were histocultured in three dimensions on Gelfoam(®) for 3 weeks for subsequent transplantation to the spinal cord in order to heal an induced injury with the HAP stem cells. The hair shafts were removed from Gelfoam(®)-histocultured whisker follicles, and the remaining parts of the whisker follicles, containing GFP-nestin-expressing (HAP) stem cells, were transplanted into the injured spinal cord of nude mice, along with the Gelfoam(®). After 90 days, the mice were sacrificed and the spinal cord injuries were observed to have healed. ND-GFP expression was intense at the healed area of the spinal cord, as observed by fluorescence microscopy, demonstrating that the HAP stem cells were involved in healing the spinal cord. The transplanted whisker follicles produced remarkably long hair shafts in the spinal cord over 90 days and curved and enclosed the spinal cord. This result changes our concept of hair growth, demonstrating it is not limited to the skin and that hair growth appears related to HAP stem cells as both increased in tandem on the spinal cord.
authors.affiliation: AntiCancer Inc., San Diego, CA, USA.|Department of Surgery, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.|Department of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Wenluo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: AntiCancer Inc., San Diego, CA, USA.|Department of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: AntiCancer Inc., San Diego, CA, USA.|Department of Surgery, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.|Department of Dermatology, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Amoh
authors.affiliation: AntiCancer Inc., San Diego, CA, USA. all@anticancer.com.|Department of Surgery, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA. all@anticancer.com.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hoffman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015870:Gene Expression; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000166:cytology* / Q000637:transplantation*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D064231:Nestin / Q000235:genetics; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000628:therapy; D058630:Spinal Cord Regeneration; D014738:Vibrissae / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D064231:Nestin; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins
keywords: GFP; Gelfoam whisker culture; Imaging; Mice, Ectopic hair growth; Nestin, HAP stem cells; Spinal cord; Transplantation