Development of Culture Substrate for Formation of Spheroids and Dermal Papilla Cell Culture

Abstract

Dermal papilla cells are located in the dermal papilla at the base of hair follicles. When dermal papilla cells form “spheroid” in vitro, they have many similarities to intact dermal papilla cell in vivo. In this study, we developed a culture substrate that can produced of human dermal papilla spheroids with uniform size using micromolding technique. We fabricated agarose gel culture substrate with microwell structure using micromolding technique. Micromold was fabricated by using a machining center in our Technical Practice Center. We designed culture substrate with microwell diameter and depth of 500 μm. Human dermal papilla cells formed monolayer on general culture dish, in contrast they formed spheroid on agarose gel culture substrate. A single spheroid was formed in each microwell under round bottom microwell (Round-well) and spheroid size was constant during culture periods. This cell culture substrate is a promising culture substrate for regenerative medicine research, pharmacological and toxicological studies, and fundamental studies in dermatology.