Anagen hair follicles transplanted into mature human scars remodel fibrotic tissue.

ABSTRACT: Despite the substantial impact of skin scarring on patients and the healthcare system, there is a lack of strategies to prevent scar formation, let alone methods to remodel mature scars. Here, we took a unique approach inspired by how healthy hairbearing skin undergoes physiological remodelling during the regular cycling of hair follicles. In this pilot clinical study, we tested if hair follicles transplanted into human scars can facilitate tissue regeneration and actively remodel fibrotic tissue, similar to how they remodel the healthy skin. We collected full-thickness skin biopsies and compared the morphology and transcriptional signature of fibrotic tissue before and after transplantation. We found that hair follicle tranplantation induced an increase in the epidermal thickness, interdi

SUBMITTER: Plotczyk M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9822907 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature