一个日美联合研究小组日前利用人类毛囊干细胞，成功修复了实验鼠足部被切断的神经。该成果将有望应用于人类手脚部位的神经修复。

毛囊干细胞具备分化成毛发、神经、肌肉和皮肤细胞的能力。日本北里大学的研究人员和美国同行提取了人类毛囊干细胞并使其增殖，再把增殖后的细胞移植到实验鼠足部末梢神经被切断的部分。8周后，被切断的实验鼠足部末梢神经重新连接到一起，在电刺激下，实验鼠的脚可以重新活动。

研究人员介绍说，虽然毛囊干细胞分化能力和形成器官的种类有限，增殖能力也较低，但这种干细胞移植后癌变风险较小，将来有望应用于修复因脊髓损伤或事故造成断裂的手脚部位神经。

推荐原始出处：

J Cell Biochem. 2009 Jun 8

Human hair follicle pluripotent stem (hfPS) cells promote regeneration of peripheral-nerve injury: An advantageous alternative to ES and iPS cells.

Amoh Y, Kanoh M, Niiyama S, Hamada Y, Kawahara K, Sato Y, Hoffman RM, Katsuoka K.

Department of Dermatology, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara, Japan.

The optimal source of stem cells for regenerative medicine is a major question. Embryonic stem (ES) cells have shown promise for pluripotency but have ethical issues and potential to form teratomas. Pluripotent stem cells have been produced from skin cells by either viral-, plasmid- or transposon-mediated gene transfer. These stem cells have been termed induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells. iPS cells may also have malignant potential and are inefficiently produced. Embryonic stem cells may not be suited for individualized therapy, since they can undergo immunologic rejection. To address these fundamental problems, our group is developing hair follicle pluripotent stem (hfPS) cells. Our previous studies have shown that mouse hfPS cells can differentiate to neurons, glial cells in vitro, and other cell types, and can promote nerve and spinal cord regeneration in vivo. hfPS cells are located above the hair follicle bulge in what we have termed the hfPS cell area (hfPSA) and are nestin positive and keratin 15 (K-15) negative. Human hfPS cells can also differentiate into neurons, glia, keratinocytes, smooth muscle cells, and melanocytes in vitro. In the present study, human hfPS cells were transplanted in the severed sciatic nerve of the mouse where they differentiated into glial fibrillary-acidic-protein (GFAP)-positive Schwann cells and promoted the recovery of pre-existing axons, leading to nerve generation. The regenerated nerve recovered function and, upon electrical stimulation, contracted the gastrocnemius muscle. The hfPS cells can be readily isolated from the human scalp, thereby providing an accessible, autologous and safe source of stem cells for regenerative medicine that have important advantages over ES or iPS cells.