Figures & data
Figure 1. Frozen sections with IF staining showing presence of nestin- and keratin-15-expressing cells in various parts of the whisker hair follicle (see Materials and Methods for details).
Figure 2. Vibrissa hair follicles from nestin-expressing green fluorescent protein (ND-GFP) transgenic mice were divided into three parts and were suspended in DMEM-F12 containing B-27 and 1% methylcellulose supplemented with bFGF every 2 d. After 2 mo, the divided ND-GFP-expressing vibrissa hair follicle fragments formed ND-GFP-expressing spherical colonies.
Figure 3. Neurons differentiating from ND-GFP cells in spherical colonies formed from various parts of the whisker follicle. Seven days after switching to RPMI 1640 containing 10% FBS, the ND-GFP-expressing cells differentiated to βIII-tubulin-positive neurons. (b2, c2, d2) are higher magnification of (b1, c1, d1), indicated by the white-dashed box (see Materials and Methods for details).
Figure 4. The number of neurons differentiating from ND-GFP-expressing spheres from the upper part of the whisker follicle was significantly higher compared with the middle and lower parts of the follicle. * p < 0.001 vs. control (see Materials and Methods for details).
Figure 5. The upper part of the hair follicle was cultured in RPMI medium with FBS and produced numerous ND-GFP-expressing spheres (see Materials and Methods for details).
Figure 6. Cell types differentiating from spheres formed from ND-GFP cells in culture of the upper part of the whisker follicle (see Materials and Methods for details).
