Human Hair Follicle-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from the Lower Dermal Sheath as a Competitive Alternative for Immunomodulation
Beatriz Hernaez-Estrada,
Ainhoa Gonzalez-Pujana,
Andoni Cuevas,
Ander Izeta,
Kara L. Spiller,
Manoli Igartua,
Edorta Santos-Vizcaino,
Rosa Maria Hernandez
Affiliations
Beatriz Hernaez-Estrada
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Ainhoa Gonzalez-Pujana
NanoBioCel Research Group, Laboratory of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Paseo de la Universidad 7, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Andoni Cuevas
Clínica Ercilla, 48009 Bilbao, Spain
Ander Izeta
Tissue Engineering Group, Biodonostia Health Research Institute, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
Kara L. Spiller
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Manoli Igartua
NanoBioCel Research Group, Laboratory of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Paseo de la Universidad 7, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Edorta Santos-Vizcaino
NanoBioCel Research Group, Laboratory of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Paseo de la Universidad 7, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Rosa Maria Hernandez
NanoBioCel Research Group, Laboratory of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Paseo de la Universidad 7, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have unique immunomodulatory capacities. We investigated hair follicle-derived MSCs (HF-MSCs) from the dermal sheath, which are advantageous as an alternative source because of their relatively painless and minimally risky extraction procedure. These cells expressed neural markers upon isolation and maintained stemness for a minimum of 10 passages. Furthermore, HF-MSCs showed responsiveness to pro-inflammatory environments by expressing type-II major histocompatibility complex antigens (MHC)-II to a lesser extent than adipose tissue-derived MSCs (AT-MSCs). HF-MSCs effectively inhibited the proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells equivalently to AT-MSCs. Additionally, HF-MSCs promoted the induction of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ regulatory T cells to the same extent as AT-MSCs. Finally, HF-MSCs, more so than AT-MSCs, skewed M0 and M1 macrophages towards M2 phenotypes, with upregulation of typical M2 markers CD163 and CD206 and downregulation of M1 markers such as CD64, CD86, and MHC-II. Thus, we conclude that HF-MSCs are a promising source for immunomodulation.
