Bioengineered follicles

New hair follicles were grown using a 3D printer

Sergey Vasiliev, Naked Science

For the first time, American dermatologists managed to get a full and healthy hair follicle in the laboratory. The innovative technique can provide an endless source of hair for transplantation to people suffering from baldness. So far, they have to be content with follicles that are transplanted from other parts of the body.

Erbil Abaci and his colleagues from Columbia University used a 3D printer to print out a three-dimensional structure made of biocompatible plastic, which creates a support and a microenvironment suitable for living cells. Tiny tubules with a diameter of only 0.5 millimeters stimulate the follicle to stretch, forming the correct spatial shape. This is reported in a press release from Columbia University Medical Center in Irvine Studies Uncover New Approaches to Combat Hair Loss in Men and Women.

Skin cells were grown on the printed three-dimensional structure, after which hair follicle cells were placed on them. Then the authors treated them with a cocktail of signaling molecules, growth factors, including oncostatin M, which suppresses the work of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, which keeps the follicles in a "dormant" state. Scientists reported on the effect of this protein on JAK-STAT in an article published recently in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

According to the authors, follicles are formed quite quickly and, in principle, the technology allows you to grow whole "hair farms": take skin fragments, dot them with hair and transplant them back onto the patient's head. However, before it comes to practical use, the new method has a long way to go, and it is hardly worth hoping for its application in the next few years.

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