1363 Hair follicle growth and pigmentation during ageing

Abstract

The hair follicle stem cell niche is the main stem cell reservoir in the skin. We are developing novel genetic tools to study and target the hair follicle stem cells and its niche to better understand mechanisms regulating hair growth, pigmentation and ageing. To this end, we have characterized new genetic tools to isolate and target the dermal papilla (DP), melanocyte and stem cell compartments. Using these tool we have ablated DP signature genes to impair hair growth. Interestingly, even though DP cells are well known for their hair induction capacity, we have found that the DP compartment is also a strong regulator of hair follicle pigmentation by conditionally knocking down genes specifically in the DP compartment and inducing a pigment switch in the pelage of the cKO mice. In addition, we are using in vivo and in vitro models to study two of the most common consequence of skin aging: hair loss and pigmentation disorders. We are using novel senescence biomarkers to identify senescence cells within different compartments of the mouse and human skin. To establish causality, we are using our hair greying and hair loss mouse models to induced senescence within different hair follicle compartments in vivo. Identifying the mechanisms resulting in hair loss and hair de-pigmentation during ageing would allow for the development of novel translational programs.