Contribution of GFP Expressing Dermal Papillae Cells to the Formation of Chimeric Embryos and their Survival in Uterine Environment

Aims: This is an innovative cell-based research project focused on the hair follicle dermal papillae (DP) as a source of key-element cells for regeneration of hair growth. DP is major dermal compartment which has a role in hair formation at embryogenesis and is able to differentiate down an endothelial lineage for in vitro functional assays. In the present study, we have tested the potential of DP cells from the lower end bulb region of hair follicles for multilineage differentiation in vivo. We have postulated that DP cells' epigenetics can be changed under the influence of embryonic microenvironment when they are injected into early embryos which would demonstrate plasticity, regenerative and inductive properties of hair follicle dermal cells.