3D Spheroid Human Dermal Papilla Cell as an Effective Model for the Screening of Hair Growth Promoting Compounds: Examples of Minoxidil and 3,4,5-Tri-O-caffeoylquinic acid (TCQA).

Dermal papilla cells (DPCs) are an important element of the hair follicle (HF) niche, widely used as an in vitro model to study hair growth-related research. These cells are usually grown in 2D culture, but this system did not show efficient therapeutic effects on HF regeneration and growth, and key differences were observed between cell activity in vitro and in vivo. Recent studies have showed that DPCs grown in 3D hanging spheroids are more morphologically akin to an intact DP microenvironment. In this current study, global gene molecular analysis showed that the 3D model highly affected cell adhesion molecules and hair growth-related pathways. Furthermore, we compared the expression of signalling molecules and metabolism-associated proteins of DPCs treated with minoxidil (an FDA-approved drug for hair loss treatment) and 3,4,5-tri-O-caffeoylquinic acid (TCQA) (recently found to induce hair growth in vitro and in vivo) in 3D spheroid hanging drops and a 2D monolayer using DNA microarray analysis. Further validations by determining the gene and protein expressions of key signature molecules showed the suitability of this 3D system for enhancing the DPC activity of the hair growth-promoting agents minoxidil and TCQA.

Elucidation of the Potential Hair Growth-Promoting Effect of Botryococcus terribilis, Its Novel Compound Methylated-Meijicoccene, and C32 Botryococcene on Cultured Hair Follicle Dermal Papilla Cells Using DNA Microarray Gene Expression Analysis.

A person's quality of life can be adversely affected by hair loss. Microalgae are widely recognized for their abundance and rich functional components. Here, we evaluated the hair growth effect of a green alga, Botryococcus terribilis (B. terribilis), in vitro using hair follicle dermal papilla cells (HFDPCs). We isolated two types of cells from B. terribilis-green and orange cells, obtained from two different culture conditions. Microarray and real time-PCR results revealed that both cell types stimulated the expression of several pathways and genes associated with different aspect of the hair follicle cycle. Additionally, we demonstrated B. terribilis' effect on collagen and keratin synthesis and inflammation reduction. We successfully isolated a novel compound, methylated-meijicoccene (me-meijicoccene), and C32 botryococcene from B. terribilis to validate their promising effects. Our study revealed that treatment with the two compounds had no cytotoxic effect on HFDPCs and significantly enhanced the gene expression levels of hair growth markers at low concentrations. Our study provides the first evidence of the underlying hair growth promoting effect of B. terribilis and its novel compound, me-meijicoccene, and C32 botryococcene.