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Hair follicle stem cell-targeted gene transfer and reconstitution system

Gene Therapy volume 13, pages 732–737 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Gene transfer to hair follicle (HF) epithelium is an attractive approach for not only treating skin diseases, but also many systemic disorders. In this study, we attempted to develop a gene transfer system for HF epithelial stem cells to maximize the beneficial therapeutic effects. For persistent and stable transgene expression in HF stem cells, we transferred retroviral vectors encoding reporter genes into cultured HF stem cells. In addition, these cells were mixed with cultured dermal papilla cells and transplanted on to immunodeficient mice. We succeeded in reconstituting HFs and their appendages in which these cells harbored a transgene reporter. The transgene expression was observed in all skin epithelial compartments including the HF epithelium, sebaceous gland and epidermis. In addition, transgene expression was observed for at least 6 months. This HF stem cell-targeted gene transfer and reconstitution system provides reliable gene-function analysis and gene therapy.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr James R McMillan for critical proofreading of this manuscript. This work was supported in part by Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan (Kiban B 16390312 to MA), the Health and Labor Sciences Research Grant from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan (H16-Research on Measures for Intractable Deseases-05 to HS) and the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan (Project for Realization of Regenerative Medicine to HS).

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  1. Department of Dermatology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan

    Y Sugiyama-Nakagiri, M Akiyama & H Shimizu

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  1. Y Sugiyama-Nakagiri
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  2. M Akiyama
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  3. H Shimizu
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Correspondence to M Akiyama.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Gene Therapy website (http://www.nature.com/gt).

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Sugiyama-Nakagiri, Y., Akiyama, M. & Shimizu, H. Hair follicle stem cell-targeted gene transfer and reconstitution system. Gene Ther 13, 732–737 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3302709

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