Modulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling affects the directional differentiation of hair follicle stem cells

Abstract

Aim: The differentiation of hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) into hair follicle cells has potential clinical applications for cutaneous burns. However, the mechanisms regulating the differentiation of HFSCs into hair follicular papilla or epidermal cells are currently not clear. This study investigated the role of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and its crosstalk with other signaling components during this differentiation process. Methods: Lithium chloride (LiCl, 10 mmol/L) and keratinocyte growth factor (KGF, 10 µg/L) were used to induce HFSC differentiation, validated by immunofluorescence analysis. The mRNA expression of β-catenin, adenomatous polyposis coli, glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), axin, and lymphoid enhancer factor-1 after 3, 5, 7, and 9 days were measured to evaluate the role of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Results: During LiCl-induced HFSC differentiation into hair follicle cells, the Wnt/ β-catenin signaling pathway was activated and the expression of GSK-3β, a vital component of the degradation compound, was inhibited. This led to increased cytoplasmic β-catenin expression, nuclear translocation, and subsequent target gene transcription. By contrast, KGF induced the differentiation of HFSCs into epidermal cells and did not affect the expression of β-catenin. This data indicates that LiCl and KGF distinctly regulate the differentiation of HFSCs into hair follicle and epidermal cells, respectively. Furthermore, the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is predominantly involved in hair follicle differentiation. Conclusion: these results demonstrate that LiCl can be used to differentiate HFSCs into hair follicle cells in vitro, which has important therapeutic applications for treating patients with cutaneous damage. MJ. Modulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling affects the directional differentiation of hair follicle stem cells. Plast Aesthet Res 2016;3:39-46. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. For reprints contact: service@oaepublish.com Prof. Bin Yang has engaged himself in practicing and researching cranio-maxillo-facial surgery for thirty years. He undertook successively more than ten scientific projects , including national and provincial priority projects supported by government fund. He possess national patent for invention of the head fixing frame for CT scanner .The project of surgical treatment of craniofacial malformations was awarded National and Provincial Scientific & Technological Advance Prize respectively in 1995 and 2008. He had published seven monographs, among two of those books he served as the editor-in-chief. He have had approximate 70 original articles, reviews and translations published on journals. He has 30-years experiences in treating craniomaxillofacial malformation. He has performed a lot of major surgical procedures on craniofacial deformities and gotten satisfactory results. Especially he used the distraction technique to treat Treacher-Collins syndrome , hemifacial microsomia, etc., having gotten both good appearance and physiologic function. His practice scope include craniomaxillofacial deformities, especially congenital craniofacial malformation, such as Crouzon syndrome and craniosynostosis (scaphocephalies, turricephalies, brachycephalies, plagiocephalies, triangucephalies), orthognathic surgery, cleft lip and palate, scalp and skull defect, orbital hypertelorism, etc.