Analysis of morphogenic mechanisms of hair follicle using oxygen-permeable microdevice

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K18971
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 27:Chemical engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Yokohama National University
• Principal Investigator: FUKUDA JUNJI 横浜国立大学, 大学院工学研究院, 教授 (80431675)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-06-29 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 毛包 / 毛包上皮幹細胞 / 毛乳頭細胞 / ティッシュエンジニアリング / 三次元培養 / マイクロデバイス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Hair follicle morphogenesis is triggered by interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal germ layers during embryogenesis. We fabricated a microdevice with oxygen-permeable silicone rubber, wherein epithelial and mesenchymal cells spontaneously formed hair follicle germ (HFG)-like aggregates in 3 day of culture. In this project, we analyzed mechanisms underlying in vitro HFG formation and following hair shafts generation. The HFG formation was attributed to different types of cadherin expressed on epithelial and mesenchymal cells. Various signaling factors were involved in the in vitro hair shaft generation. Hair shafts sprouted at 12 day of culture and reached ~200 μm in length at 23 days of culture. However, only less than 1% of HFGs (a few/300 HFGs) generated hair shafts. Based on our findings, we optimized culture conditions, with which the efficiency of hair shaft generation was significantly increased (~90%, 275/300 HFGs).

Free Research Field

生物工学、再生医療

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

毛包形成や脱毛症が生じる分子メカニズムには不明な部分も多く、副作用のない脱毛症治療薬の開発が進まない要因となっている。そこで本研究では、本デバイス上の毛包原基を生体外毛包モデルとして利用し、形態形成メカニズムの解析に取り組んだ。本研究では、メカニズム解明のみならず、毛髪再生に関与する成長因子の添加により毛幹様構造の形成効率が飛躍的に向上することも示した。このようにして、毛包形成メカニズムの解明と創薬スクリーニングへ適用することで、毛包などの発生に関する基礎的理解から脱毛症治療への応用まで、幅広い波及効果が期待できる。