Isolation and growth of human keratinocytes from plucked hairs

Hair follicle is part of epidermis that is embedded into dermis. the multipotent stem cells of hair follicle have the ability to differentiate into different type of cells including keratinocytes,muscles,melanocytes and neurons etc. keratinocytes are usually grown on feeder layer or serum free medium. in the present study hair follicle cells were isolated and grown by two different methods viz. direct outgrowth and enzymatic treatment. in the case of direct outgrowth method,the hair was made to adhere to plastic surface for 24 h and after 5-6 days in culture medium cells started migrating out. in enzymatic treatment method only a few cells got adhered to plastic surface and they did not grow further. in conclusion we can say that direct outgrowth method is more suitable way to isolate and grow cells from plucked hair which is non-invasive source to get keratinocytes and stem cells that have multi differential potential. © 2012 zoological society of pakistan.