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INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
Gene Expression Profiling of the Intact Dermal Sheath Cup of Human
Hair Follicles
Shiro NIIYAMA 1# , Yumiko ISHIMATSU-TSUJI 2# , Yosuke NAKAZAWA 2 , Yuzo YOSHIDA 2 , Tsutomu SOMA 2 , Ritsuro IDETA 2 ,
Hideki MUKAI 1 and Jiro KISHIMOTO 2
Department of Dermatology, Toho University Ohashi Medical Center, Tokyo, and 2 Shiseido Global Innovation Center, Yokohama, Japan
These authors contributed equally and should be considered as first author.
1
#
Cells that constitute the dermal papillae of hair follicles
might be derived from the dermal sheath, the peribul-
bar component of which is the dermal sheath cup. The
dermal sheath cup is thought to include the progenitor
cells of the dermal papillae and possesses hair inducti-
ve potential; however, it has not yet been well charac-
terized. This study investigated the gene expression
profile of the intact dermal sheath cup, and identified
dermal sheath cup signature genes, including extracel-
lular matrix components and bone morphogenetic pro-
tein-binding molecules, as well as transforming frowth
factor beta 1 as an upstream regulator. Among these,
gremilin-2, a member of the bone morphogenetic pro-
tein antagonists, was found by in situ hybridization to
be highly specific to the dermal sheath cup, implying
that gremlin-2 is a key molecule contributing to main-
tenance of the properties of the dermal sheath cup.
Key words: alopecia; dermal papilla; GREM2; hair biology; TGF-
b1.
Accepted Apr 24, 2018; Epub ahead of print Apr 24, 2018
Acta Derm Venereol 2018; 98: 694–698.
Corr: Shiro Niiyama, Department of Dermatology, Toho University Ohashi
Medical Center, 2-17-6 Ohashi, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8515, Japan. E-
mail: [email protected]
H
air follicles (HF) undergo cycles of hair growth,
regression and removal. HF are composed of dermis-
and epithelium-derived cell populations in close associa-
tion with each other. The dermal mesenchyme-derived
component consists of fibroblast-like cells that form the
dermal papilla (DP), located at the centre of the hair bulb,
and the dermal sheath (DS), which is the outermost layer
of the HF and surrounds the epithelial component (1–4).
The DP is regarded as essential to HF development and
cycling. Biochemical signalling by DP cells controls the
cell dynamics of the epithelial component and the overall
physical properties of the HF. It has been shown that isola-
ted DP or even cultured DP cells can induce the formation
of new HF following transplantation into the skin (5–11).
It has been suggested that the cells that constitute the
DP may be derived from the DS (12). When the bulb
regions of rat vibrissae, including the DP, were removed
by microdissection, the amputated follicles were shown to
regenerate a new DP and renew production of a hair fibre.
However, when more than the lower third of a vibrissa
follicle was removed, the amputated vibrissa failed to
doi: 10.2340/00015555-2949
Acta Derm Venereol 2018; 98: 694–698
SIGNIFICANCE
We investigated the gene expression profile of some part