Isolation and Characterization of Neural Crest Stem Cells from Adult Human Hair Follicles

Abstract

This paper describes the isolation of adult neural crest stem cells from human hair follicles using the method based on mechanical dissection of the follicle, its explantation into tissue culture and emigration of stem cells. Characterization of isolated cells is based on detection of neural crest and general stem cell markers (on protein and mRNA levels).

All the presented results strongly support the neural crest stem cell identity and multipotency of isolated adult human cells. These cells thus could be a good candidate for stem cell therapy, especially because of the easy accessibility of donor tissue.

Keywords

• neural crest
• stem cells
• human hair follicle
• expression profile
• EPI-NCSCs
• nestin expression
• progenitor cells
• self-renewal
• in-vitro
• transcription
• pluripotent
• skin
• differentiation
• generation