T. Fujie et al., CULTURE OF CELLS DERIVED FROM THE HUMAN SEBACEOUS GLAND UNDER SERUM-FREE CONDITIONS WITHOUT A BIOLOGICAL FEEDER LAYER OR SPECIFIC MATRICES, Archives of dermatological research, 288(11), 1996, pp. 703-708
We succeeded in serially culturing cells derived from human sebaceous
gland (sebocytes) under serum-free conditions. Sebaceous glands were i
solated from dispase-treated facial skin specimens and cultured using
two different methods, explant culture and dispersed cell culture, in
KGM. In both types of culture the sebocytes proliferated rapidly witho
ut a biological feeder layer or specific matrices, It was possible to
cultivate the cells serially for at least three passages (explant cult
ure) and six passages (dispersed cell culture), and to store the cells
in liquid nitrogen with good recovery, Analytical thin-layer chromato
graphy revealed that the cells synthesized a large amount of sebum-spe
cific lipids, squalene and wax esters in vitro. Both testosterone and
Sa-dihydrotestosterone significantly stimulated the proliferation of t
he sebocytes, The methods presented here may permit a large series of
studies on the function of sebaceous glands or cells derived from seba
ceous glands.