Hair follicle stem cells isolated from newborn Yangtze River Delta White Goats

Adult stem cells are self-renewing populations that originate from embryonic progenitor cells during organogenesis and retain multipotency to support tissue and organ regeneration throughout the lifetime of an organism. The hair follicle (HF) is a small organ that is ideal for studying the biology and regulation of adult stem cells. A distinct, permanent pool of adult stem cells is located in the HF bulge region. Most methods used to isolate hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) begin with mouse or human follicles. Here, we describe two methods of isolating HFSCs from newborn Yangtze River Delta White Goats. A suitable method was found. The cell viability and expression of HFSC marker proteins differed in the two methods. CD49f-positive (integrin alpha 6) HFSCs were sorted by fluorescence activated flow cytometry. Sorted HFSCs can be used in various in vivo grafting models and are useful as an in vitro model to study multipotency, quiescence and activation.