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Review
. 2024 Apr 30;13(5):312.
doi: 10.3390/biology13050312.

Modelling Human Hair Follicles-Lessons from Animal Models and Beyond

Chew Teng Tan  1 , Chin Yan Lim  1   2 , Kenneth Lay  1
Affiliations
Review

Modelling Human Hair Follicles-Lessons from Animal Models and Beyond

Chew Teng Tan et al. Biology (Basel). .

Abstract

The hair follicle is a specialized appendage of the skin that is critical for multiple functions, including thermoregulation, immune surveillance, and sebum production. Mammals are born with a fixed number of hair follicles that develop embryonically. Postnatally, these hair follicles undergo regenerative cycles of regression and growth that recapitulate many of the embryonic signaling pathways. Furthermore, hair cycles have a direct impact on skin regeneration in homeostasis, cutaneous wound healing, and disease conditions such as alopecia. Here, we review the current knowledge of hair follicle formation during embryonic development and the post-natal hair cycle, with an emphasis on the molecular signaling pathways underlying these processes. We then discuss efforts to capitalize on the field's understanding of in vivo mechanisms to bioengineer hair follicles or hair-bearing skin in vitro and how such models may be further improved to develop strategies for hair regeneration.

Keywords: hair follicle development; human hair models; signaling pathways.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The pilosebaceous unit consists of the arrector pili muscle, sebaceous gland, and hair follicle.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Embryonic hair follicle development and adult hair cycle, and the main signaling pathways involved. BMP, bone morphogenetic protein; DP, dermal papilla; EDA, ectodysplasin; EDAR, ectodysplasin receptor; EGF, epidermal growth factor; FGF, fibroblast growth factor; HFSCs, hair follicle stem cells; IRS, inner root sheath; ORS, outer root sheath; SHH, sonic hedgehog; TGFβ, transforming growth factor beta.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Overview of current in-vitro hair models, cultured either in scaffold-free conditions (depicted in grey sector) or on skin mimetics (depicted in purple sector). Scaffold-free models include dermal papilla (DP) spheroids [67,68], keratinocyte (Kc)-DP co-cultured spheroids [69], hair peg-like structure in droplet system [70], Kc-DP spheroids with melanocytes [71], and skin organoid [72]. Skin mimetic models are based on epidermal-dermal skin constructs with DP spheroids [73], Kc-DP spheroids [74] or pre-patterned grooves [75].
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