Mesenchymal Stem Cells With Modification of Junctional Adhesion Molecule A Induce Hair Formation

Abstract

Abstract The junctional adhesion molecule A (JAM-A) has been shown to serve a crucial role in the proliferation, differentiation, and tube-like formation of epithelial cells during angiogenesis. The role of JAM-A in hair follicle (HF) regeneration has not yet been reported. In this study, we used human JAM-A-modified human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to repair HF abnormalities in BALB/c nu/nu mice. The JAM-A gene and JAM-A short hairpin RNA were transfected into cultured human MSCs to generate the JAM-A overexpression MSCs (JAM-Aov MSCs) and JAM-A knockdown MSCs (JAM-Akd MSCs), respectively. These cells were injected intradermally into the skin of nude mice during the first telogen phase of the HF that occurs 21 days postnatally. We found that JAM-Aov MSCs migrated into the HF sheath and remodeled HF structure effectively. The HF abnormalities such as HF curve and HF zigzag were remodeled, and hair formation was improved 7 days following injection in both the JAM-Aov MSC and MSC groups, compared with the JAM-Akd MSC group or negative control group. Furthermore, the JAM-Aov MSC group showed enhanced hair formation in contrast to the MSC group, and the number of curved and zigzagged HFs was reduced by 80% (p < .05). These results indicated that JAM-Aov MSCs improved hair formation in nude mice through HF structure remodeling.