Summary of ssbd-repos-000415

Name
URL
DOI

Title
Basement membrane components define the microenvironment of aggregated fibroblasts in the skin and support their aggregation in vitro
Description

The dermal papilla (DP), a specialized fibroblast aggregate in mammalian skin, plays a pivotal role in hair follicle development and regeneration through epithelial‒mesenchymal interactions. While its aggregated configuration is critical for its function, the mechanism maintaining this organization has remained unclear. Here, we show that human DP cells are embedded in a basement membrane (BM)-like extracellular matrix (ECM) rather than in conventional interstitial fibrillar ECM, such as collagen I. This BM-like ECM occupies the intercellular space as a diffuse, mesh-like structure, with minimal cell‒cell adhesion. These fibroblasts interact with specific laminin isoforms containing α1, α2 or α4 chains via integrin α7β1, resulting in weak adhesiveness. In vitro, DP spheroids remained aggregated in a BM extract-based matrix, Matrigel, but dispersed in collagen I gel in an α1β1 integrin-dependent manner. Our findings suggest that the BM components within DP aggregates mediate cell‒ECM interactions and maintain the cohesive DP structure in the absence of strong cell‒cell contacts. These results reveal an unconventional role for the BM as an adhesive microenvironment that sustains fibroblast aggregation and offer a new perspective on mesenchymal tissue organization and in vitro culture substrates for DP cells.

Submited Date
2025-01-29
Release Date
2026-04-17
Updated Date
-
License
Funding information
This work was supported by RIKEN intramural funding, RIKEN Organoid Project, the JSPS KAKENHI (19K22631, 20H03706, 22K19453), the MEXT KAKENHI (23H04927, 23H04928, 25H01053), JST CREST (JPMJCR1926) (all to H. Fujiwara). H. Machida was supported by the RIKEN Junior Research Associate (JRA) and JSPS Research Fellow (22KJ2160).
File formats
LIF, tiff
Data size
30.7 GB

Organism
Homo sapiens
Strain
-
Cell Line
Human Follicle Dermal Papillae Cells
Genes
-
Proteins
-

GO Molecular Function (MF)
-
GO Biological Process (BP)
-
GO Cellular Component (CC)
-
Study Type
-
Imaging Methods
-

Method Summary
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Related paper(s)

Contact(s)
Hironobu Fujiwara
Organization(s)
RIKEN , Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research , Laboratory for Tissue Microenvironment
Image Data Contributors
Hiroki Machida
Quantitative Data Contributors

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