Inflammation

We use primary immune cells (cell culture), ex vivo organ culture of human hair follicles and human full thickness skin, and humanized mouse in vivo models to investigate the cutaneous immune system, how it impacts on hair follicle and skin physiology and pathology, and whether compounds/formulations (also via topical application) regulate cutaneous immune system and protect from experimentally-induced inflammation. Specifically, as standardized readout parameters, we evaluate the following by immunohistology/quantitative (immuno-) histomorphometry, FACS, and ELISA (for details on our techniques, please click here):

In addition, using RNAseq, qRT-PCR and/or in situ hybridization, we can analyse the expression of molecules involved in inflammation, and assess these within specific compartments from skin or hair tissue sections following laser capture microdissection.

Additional readout parameters are available, and customized experiments can be designed to meet the needs of our customers.

NEW: Co-culture of human hair follicles with autologous primary immune cells (CD8+ T-cells, CD4+ T-cells, gamma delta T-cells, etc.) to study the effect of specific immune cell populations on hair physiology, relevant for studies on immunological hair follicle disorders (e.g. alopecia areata, lichen planopilaris).

NEW: Isolation of immune cells from blood and/or skin (MACS, FACS cell sorting) from healthy donors, and patients affected by hair follicle or skin inflammatory disorders (e.g. psoriasis, alopecia areata, atopic dermatitis), and single cell analysis.

Additional readout parameters are available, and customized experiments can be designed to meet the needs of our customers

Uchida et al., 2020, Chéret et al., 2020, Szabó et al., 2020, Gherardini et al., 2020, Cheret et al., 2019, Jadkauskaite et al., 2018, Ghraieb et al., 2018, Keren et al., 2018, Ali et al., 2017, Bertolini et al., 2016, Bertolini et al., 2014