Stem cells from hair follicles may help 'grow' new blood vessels

Since smooth muscle cells comprise the muscle of numerous tissues and organs, including the bladder, abdominal cavity and gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts, this new, accessible source of cells may make possible future treatments that allow for the regeneration of these damaged organs as well.

Andreadis and his colleagues previously engineered functional and implantable blood vessels with smooth muscle and endothelial cells originating from bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells.

A key advantage of mesenchymal cells is that they typically do not trigger an immune reaction when transplanted, he said.

“Preliminary experiments in our laboratory suggest an exciting possibility -- that stem cells from hair follicles may be similar to bone-marrow mesenchymal cells,” Andreadis said.

“The best case scenario is that from this one very accessible and highly proliferative source of stem cells, we will be able to obtain multiple different cell types that can be used for a broad range of applications in regenerative medicine,” he said.

Co-authors on the paper are Jin Yu Liu, Ph.D., research assistant professor, and Hao Fan Peng, a doctoral candidate, both in the UB Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

The work was funded by the John R. Oishei Foundation of Buffalo. Previous work by Andreadis has been funded by UB's Integrative Research and Creative Activities Fund in the UB Office of the Vice President for Research.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system that is its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB’s more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.