Multifaceted role of hair follicle dermal cells in bioengineered skins.
BACKGROUND
The method of generating bioengineered skin constructs was pioneered several decades ago; nowadays these constructs are used regularly for the treatment of severe burns and nonhealing wounds. Commonly, these constructs are comprised of skin fibroblasts within a collagen scaffold, forming the skin dermis, and stratified keratinocytes overlying this, forming the skin epidermis. In the past decade there has been a surge of interest in bioengineered skins, with researchers seeking alternative cell sources, or scaffolds, from which constructs can be established, and for more biomimetic equivalents with skin appendages.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate whether human hair follicle dermal cells can act as an alternative cell source for engineering the dermal component of engineered skin constructs.


METHODS
We established in vitro skin constructs by incorporating into the collagenous dermal compartment: (i) primary interfollicular dermal fibroblasts, (ii) hair follicle dermal papilla cells or (iii) hair follicle dermal sheath cells. In vivo skins were established by mixing dermal cells and keratinocytes in chambers on top of immunologically compromised mice.


RESULTS
All fibroblast subtypes were capable of supporting growth of overlying epithelial cells, both in vitro and in vivo. However, we found hair follicle dermal sheath cells to be superior to fibroblasts in their capacity to influence the establishment of a basal lamina.


CONCLUSIONS
Human hair follicle dermal cells can be readily interchanged with interfollicular fibroblasts and used as an alternative cell source for establishing the dermal component of engineered skin both in vitro and in vivo.
Department of Dermatology, Columbia University, New York, NY, U.S.A.|Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, U.K.
C A
CA
Higgins
School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University, Durham, U.K.
M F
MF
Roger
School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University, Durham, U.K.
R P
RP
Hill
Department of Plastic Surgery, University Hospital of Durham, Durham, U.K.
A S
AS
Ali-Khan
Sackler Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
J A
JA
Garlick
Department of Dermatology, Columbia University, New York, NY, U.S.A.|Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University, New York, NY, U.S.A.
A M
AM
Christiano
School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University, Durham, U.K.
C A B
CAB
Jahoda
D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000166:cytology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000502:physiology; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000637:transplantation; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D064593:Heterografts; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000637:transplantation; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D017768:Skin, Artificial; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous