Introduction of the TERT and BMI1 Genes into Murine Dermal Papilla Cells Ameliorates Hair Inductive Activity

Dermal papilla cells (DPCs) are located at the bottom of hair follicles and play important roles on hair induction by interacting with epidermal cells. DPCs are promising cell sources for hair regeneration therapy for alopecia patients. However, freshly isolated DPCs rapidly lose their hair inductive activity and proliferative potential under culture conditions. We examined the effects of telomere reverse transcriptase (TERT) and B-cell-specific Moloney murine leukemia virus insertion region 1 (BMI1) on extending the life span of murine DPCs as well as on hair inductive activity.TERT and BMI1 genes were introduced into murine DPCs using lentivirus vectors. Hair inductive activity of transfected DPCs (t-DPCs) was determined by in vivo chamber assay in nude mice. Transcripts between intact dermal papillae (DPs) and cultured DPCs were compared by microarray analysis. To investigate the hair follicle-related gene expression, transcripts between intact DPs and DPCs at several culture stages [wild-DPC (wP0 and wP5) and t-DPC transfected (tP18)] were compared.