Induction of hair follicles in mouse skin by rat vibrissa dermal papillae.

Abstract

Rat vibrissa dermal papillae were transplanted between the epidermis and dermis of isolated embryonic mouse skin and then grafted onto nude mice. The papillae induced the formation of hair follicles which were larger than those of the host skin but smaller than vibrissa follicles. The potential of isolated dermal papillae to induce follicles with characteristics of those from which the papillae originated is discussed. One of the major factors affecting the sizes of induced follicles may have been related to the splitting of the papilla mass and dispersal of the cells by invading cords of epidermal cells from the host skin during induction.