Hypoxia inducible factor-1α promotes trichogenic gene expression
in human dermal papilla cells

Jieun Seo, Lei Yan, Tatsuto Kageyama, Ayaka Nanmo, Yang-Sook Chun and Junji Fukuda

Sci Rep 13, 1478 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28837-0

Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms
and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Background

The hair cycle refers to the phenomenon of the anagen (active growth phase of hair), catagen (transitional stage and hair growth slows down), telogen (resting phase for new hair to grow) and new anagen of hair follicles. In androgenetic alopecia (AGA) patients, it is considered that the anagen phase gradually shortens so that the hair becomes shorter and thinner.
Dermal papilla cells (DPCs) plays important roles in the development and growth process of hair follicles, but how they contribute to the mechanism of hair regeneration, particularly in terms of alterations in AGA patients, is not yet fully understood.

Research Achievements

HIF-1α (hypoxia-inducible factor-1α) is a transcription factor that is activated when cells enter a state of hypoxia. In this study, HIF1A was highly expressed in healthy scalp tissue, and from in vitro experiments using 3D culture of DPCs mimicking in vivo environment, the author's group successfully demonstrated that HIF-1α is suppressed in scalp tissues of androgenetic alopecia patients and potentially associated with hair follicle development. Maintaining DPCs with high HIF-1α levels could be applicable to prepare DPCs with enhanced hair inductivity for hair implantation. From a therapeutic perspective, targeting HIF-1α can be a potential strategy for recovering hair loss.

Use of PrimeSurface™ in this study

3D cell culture are used in many studies as it maintain the hair inductivity.
PrimeSurface™ 96U plate was used for DPC spheroid formation and HIF-1α expression was compared between spheroid (3D culture) and monolayer culture. Regulation of HIF-1α was also investigated.

Cells	:	DPCs (PromoCell, Heidelberg, Germany), si-Con and si-HIF-1α treated DPCs
Seeding density	:	1x10⁴ cells/well
Medium	:	Follicle dermal papilla cell growth medium (PromoCell, Heidelberg, Germany)