A cell-based system for screening hair growth-promoting agents

Abstract

Androgen-inducible transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta1) derived from dermal papilla cells (DPCs) is a catagen inducer that mediates hair growth suppression in androgenetic alopecia (AGA). In this study, a cell-based assay system was developed to monitor TGF-beta1 promoter activity and then used to evaluate the effects of activated TGF-beta1 promoter in human epidermal keratinocytes (HaCaT). To accomplish this, a pMetLuc-TGF-beta1 promoter plasmid that expresses the luciferase reporter gene in response to TGF-beta1 promoter activity was constructed. Treatment of HaCaT with dihydrotestosterone, which is known to be a primary factor of AGA, resulted in a concentration-dependent increase in TGF-beta1 promoter activity. However, treatment of HaCaT with the TGF-beta1 inhibitor, curcumin, resulted in a concentration-dependant decrease in TGF-beta1 expression. Subsequent use of this assay system to screen TGF-beta1 revealed that HaCaT that were treated with apigenin showed decreased levels of TGF-beta1 expression. In addition, treatment with apigenin also significantly increased the proliferation of both SV40T-DPCs (human DPCs) and HaCaT cells. Furthermore, apigenin stimulated the elongation of hair follicles in a rat vibrissa hair follicle organ culture. Taken together, these findings suggest that apigenin, which is known to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties, stimulates hair growth through downregulation of the TGF-beta1 gene. In addition, these results suggest that this assay system could be used to quantitatively measure TGF-beta1 promoter activity in HaCaT, thereby facilitating the screening of agents promoting hair growth.

Artepillin C and Other Herbal PAK1-blockers: Effects on Hair Cell Proliferation and Related PAK1-dependent Biological Function in Cell Culture

“…P2006‐219407A, 2006). However, the procedure is essentially very similar to that previously published (Huh et al ., ).…”

“…In the past, there were a few cell culture-based evidences suggesting that herbal PAK1-blockers such as curcumin, kaempferol, and apigenin from propolis promote the growth of hair cells (Huh et al, 2009). More recently, ARC (artepillin C)-based green propolis from Brazil was shown to promote hair growth in mice (Miyata et al, 2014).…”

Hair follicular cell/organ culture in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

“…[50] 2009 Huh Apigenin stimulated the elongation of hair follicles in a rat vibrissa hair follicle organ culture. [72] and the rate of apoptosis in hair cells differed among cell type in DE [73] (Fig. 4, Table 1).…”

Inhibition of Inflammatory Gene Expression in Keratinocytes Using a Composition Containing Carnitine, Thioctic Acid and Saw Palmetto Extract

“…In this study, we sought to demonstrate that a test compound containing LSESr, carnitine and TA represses LPS-activated expression of inflammatory genes using a well-validated in vitro assay representative of HF keratinocytes, specifically, the LPS-stimulated HaCaT cells [16, 17]. We assayed for changes in gene expression across a spectrum of well-characterized inflammatory markers and found that our test compound demonstrates anti-inflammatory properties in vitro .…”