Medicine (St Vincent's) - Theses

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End date: 2016 × Start date: 2010 × Type: Masters Research thesis × Subject: dermal papilla cells ×

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    Increasing the hair inductive potential of human dermal papilla cells: stimulating and characterising cell aggregation
    SARI, AGNES ROSARINA PRITA ( 2015)
    Dermal papilla cells (DPCs) are able to induce hair follicles. DPC tend to aggregate both in vitro and in vivo. This tendency is associated with their ability to induce hair growth. The use of DPCs to treat alopecia is limited because human DPCs lose their hair-inducing activity in culture, whereas ovine DPC do not. The aims of this study were to characterise the molecular phenotype of ovine DPC aggregates, and to determine whether aggregating ovine DPCs secrete factors affecting the aggregative behaviour or inductive potential of human DPCs. Expression of papilla markers in cultured ovine DPCs was characterised. The effects of ovine factors, different culture substrates and medium compositions on aggregative behaviour of human DPCs were determined. Co-cultures of ovine and human papilla cells, separated by a permeable membrane were observed to determine whether the ovine cells secrete soluble factors that affect human cell aggregation. Ovine DPC aggregates expressed 16 papilla markers, showing they have a similar phenotype to papillae in vivo. In co-culture experiments, well-formed aggregates were produced in human:ovine DPC mixtures. In contrast, unmixed human DPCs remained in a monolayer state, indicating that ovine cells are required to initiate aggregation but the human cells are then able to incorporate into aggregates. Both human and ovine DPCs had a higher tendency to aggregate in medium containing 20% (v/v) lamb serum compared to 10% (v/v) foetal calf serum. The effect of co-culturing human with ovine DPCs separated by a permeable membrane gave positive additional effects to human aggregation. In summary, ovine biomolecules show potential for increasing the aggregative behaviour of human DPCs in culture. These biomolecules might eventually be used to treat androgenetic alopecia.