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Cited by 20Dermatologic Treatments and ResearchHair Growth and DisordersWound Healing and Treatments

Anagen hair follicles transplanted into mature human scars remodel fibrotic tissue

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Plotczyk, Magdalena, Jiménez, Francisco, Limbu, Summik, Boyle, Colin J., Ovia, Jesse, Almquist, Benjamin D., Higgins, Claire A.·2023·npj Regenerative Medicine
DOI 10.1038/s41536-022-00270-3PMC PMC9822907
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Abstract

Despite the substantial impact of skin scarring on patients and the healthcare system, there is a lack of strategies to prevent scar formation, let alone methods to remodel mature scars. Here, we took a unique approach inspired by how healthy hairbearing skin undergoes physiological remodelling during the regular cycling of hair follicles. In this pilot clinical study, we tested if hair follicles transplanted into human scars can facilitate tissue regeneration and actively remodel fibrotic tissue, similar to how they remodel the healthy skin. We collected full-thickness skin biopsies and compared the morphology and transcriptional signature of fibrotic tissue before and after transplantation. We found that hair follicle tranplantation induced an increase in the epidermal thickness, interdigitation of the epidermal-dermal junction, dermal cell density, and blood vessel density. Remodelling of collagen type I fibres reduced the total collagen fraction, the proportion of thick fibres, and their alignment. Consistent with these morphological changes, we found a shift in the cytokine milieu of scars with a long-lasting inhibition of pro-fibrotic factors TGFβ1, IL13, and IL-6. Our results show that anagen hair follicles can attenuate the fibrotic phenotype, providing new insights for developing regenerative approaches to remodel mature scars.

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  • Transplantation of HF-containing transplants contributes to faster healing and less scarring compared to non-HFs-containing transplants.

    “Plotczyk M et al. showed that transplantation of HF-containing transplants contributes to faster healing and less scarring as compared to non-HFs-containing transplants [32].”

    From The empowering influence of air-liquid interface culture on skin organoid hair follicle development (2025) · cites this paper as [32]

    The Results and Discussion report remodeling of mature scars after hair-follicle transplantation, including reduced collagen I fibers. They do not establish faster healing or less scarring compared with transplants without hair follicles: the Discussion says a sham transplantation with non-hairy skin was not possible. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • HFs induce a long-term systematic change to the transplantation sites.

    “HFs induce a long-term systematic change to the transplantation sites [32]”

    From The empowering influence of air-liquid interface culture on skin organoid hair follicle development (2025) · cites this paper as [32]

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References 63 · Cited by 20

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Authors
Plotczyk, M., Jiménez, F., Limbu, S., Boyle, C. J., Ovia, J., Almquist, B. D., & Higgins, C. A.
Affiliations
  • Imperial College London (GB)
  • Universidad Fernando Pessoa Canarias (ES)
Corresponding author
Higgins, Claire A.
ORCID
Venue
npj Regenerative Medicine
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2023-01-06
Volume
8
Issue
1
Pages
1-1
ISSN
2057-3995 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/s41536-022-00270-3
PMC
PMC9822907
OpenAlex
W4313577472
Cited by
20
References
63
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 2
FWCI
5.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • npj Regenerative Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • SSRN Electronic Journal (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Spiral (Imperial College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • RCUK | Medical Research Council (MR/N014103/1)
  • RCUK | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/N026845/1)
  • Wellcome Trust (104931/Z/14/Z)
  • RCUK | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/L015129/1)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Dermatology › Dermatologic Treatments and Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Urology › Hair Growth and Disorders
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Rehabilitation › Wound Healing and Treatments
Keywords
anagen hair follicles, hair follicle transplantation, scar remodeling, fibrotic tissue, scar tissue, type I collagen, basement membrane zone, cytokine milieu, TGF-β1, IL-13, interleukin-6, tissue regeneration

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