Methods for Assaying Hair Follicle Growth and Development
Description of Invention:
Methods of culturing functionally-intact hair follicles in a collagen matrix are useful for screening baldness treatments and the quantification and study of the effects of agents on hair follicle growth. This technology describes techniques for measuring cell proliferation or for measuring secretion of collagenolytic factors, incorporating a three-dimensional hair follicle culture system. Collagenolytic activity is essential for downgrowth of hair follicles during anagen. One described method measures the effects of a growth factor or pharmaceutical compound on cell proliferation, utilizing the incorporation of tritiated thymidine into DNA of cultured hair follicles. Also described is a method to measure the effect of growth factors on the release of collagenolytic factors, utilizing tritiated collagen or a fluorescent marker.
Applications:
Assays for screening drugs or growth factors that may stimulate hair growth
Assays measuring the DNA synthesis and collagenase-secreting activity of hair follicles
Market:
An estimated 40 million men and 20 million women suffer from hair loss.
The market size for hair restoration procedures in the United States is approximately $800 million.
G Rogers, N Martinet, P Steinert, P Wynn, D Roop, A Kilkenny, D Morgan, SH Yuspa. Cultivation of murine hair follicles as organoids in a collagen matrix. J Invest Dermatol. 1987 Oct;89(4):369-379. [PubMed abs]
W Weinberg, P Brown, WG Stetler-Stevenson, SH Yuspa. Growth factors specifically alter hair follicle cell proliferation and collagenolytic activity alone or in combination. Differentiation. 1990 Dec;45(3):168-178. [PubMed abs]
Licensing Status: Available for nonexclusive licensing.
Portfolios: Internal Medicine Cancer
Cancer -Therapeutics-Biological Response Modifiers-Growth Factors Cancer -Therapeutics Internal Medicine-Other
For Additional Information Please Contact: Charlene A. Sydnor Ph.D.
NIH Office of Technology Transfer
6011 Executive Blvd, Suite 325
Rockville, MD 20852-3804
Phone: 301/435-4689
Email: sydnorc@mail.nih.gov
Fax: 301/402-0220
