Introduction of the TERT and BMI1 Genes into Murine Dermal Papilla Cells Ameliorates Hair Inductive Activity

Dermal papilla cells (DPCs) play important roles in the regeneration and development of hair follicles. Once DPCs are cultured, however, both hair inductive activity and proliferation capability of DPCs are rapidly lost. The possible reasons are cellular senescence induced by various biological stresses [1] and limitation of the number of cell division in culture [2]. To extend the life span of DPCs, we focused on two genes, telomere reverse transcriptase (TERT) and B-cell-specific Moloney murine leukemia virus insertion region 1 (BMI1).