Real-time confocal imaging of trafficking of nestin-expressing multipotent stem cells in mouse whiskers in long-term 3-D histoculture.

We have previously demonstrated that nestin-expressing multipotent hair follicle stem cells are located above the hair follicle bulge and can differentiate into neurons and other cell types in vitro. The nestin-expressing hair follicle stem cells promoted the recovery of pre-existing axons when they were transplanted to the severed sciatic nerve or injured spinal cord. We have also previously demonstrated that the whisker hair follicle contains nestin-expressing stem cells in the dermal papilla (DP) as well as in the bulge area (BA), but that their origin is in the BA. In the present study, we established the technique of long-term Gelfoam® histoculture of whiskers isolated from transgenic mice in which nestin drives green fluorescent protein (ND-GFP). Confocal imaging was used to monitor ND-GFP-expressing stem cells trafficking in real time between the BA and DP to determine the fate of the stem cells. It was observed over a 2-week period that the stem cells trafficked from the BA toward the DP area and extensively grew out onto Gelfoam® forming nerve-like structures. This new method of long-term histoculture of whiskers from ND-GFP mice will enable the extensive study of the behavior of nestin-expressing multipotent stem cells of the hair follicle.