Dermal papilla cells (DPCs) play roles in key functions of the epidermis such as hair generation. The use of human induced pluripotent cells (hiPSCs) makes it possible to obtain DP-like cells and study the molecular mechanisms of DPC development during embryogenesis. In this work, we studied the phenotypic trajectory of hiPSCs during their differentiation into DP-like cells and evaluated the epithelial-mesenchymal interaction potential of the resulting cell line. Specifically, we differentiated hiPSCs into neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and subsequently into DP-like cells. Analysis of bulk RNA-seq data during this process enabled us to observe gene expression dynamics during five stages of dermal differentiation. Furthermore, functional assays (organoids in both collagen gels and hanging drop cultures and tubulogenesis assays) revealed that the dermal cell lines we generated could interact with epidermal cells.
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