Experimental approaches for the reconstitution of hair in vitro.
When plucked follicles were cultured together with isolated dermal papillae in a collagen gel matrix, outer root sheath cells (ORSCs) grew more rapidly and actively than without the papillae. Cultured dermal papilla cells also activated the colony growth of ORSCs in vitro. These results may suggest the existence of some papilla-derived factor(s) activating the growth of ORSCs. In cultures of excised whole follicles whose dermal papilla had been removed, epithelial cells of bulb matrix origin grew out from the bulbous portion, and formed spikes. When a dermal papilla was implanted close to the follicle, the spikes elongated toward the papilla, and finally reached and surrounded it. This finding suggests that dermal papillae may produce some factor(s) attracting epithelial cells of hair bulb origin. In cultures of excised whole follicles, when the dermal papilla remained originally positioned in contact with the hair bulb matrix, the hair and follicle elongated for more than 1 week. But when the dermal papilla was detached from the bulb matrix, the matrix cells proliferated into the gel and formed a hair-follicle-like structure (folliculoid). In cultures of excised whole follicles whose papilla-matrix junction had been damaged by dispase, elongation of the hair and follicle was almost completely suppressed. Thus, the attachment of the dermal papilla to the bulb matrix appears to be necessary for normal hair and follicle growth.