It has been difficult to induce the expected sebocyte differentiation
in vitro with dihydrotestosterone (DHT). We reasoned that our culture
system lacks differentiating factors, and peroxisome proliferator-acti
vated receptors (PPARs) were the prime candidates. We tested PPAR acti
vators informative about diverse PPAR subtypes, with and without DHT (
10(-6) M): BRL-49653 (10(-6) M, PPAR-gamma), WY-14643 (10(-6) M, PPAR-
alpha), and linoleic acid (LIN, 10(-4) M, PPAR-delta). Treatments were
added in serum-free medium to cultures of rat preputial sebocytes. Co
ntrol, DHT, BRL and BRL+DHT treatments caused 11, 25, 66 and 80%, resp
ectively, of preputial cell colonies to differentiate into lipid-formi
ng colonies (LFCs) (p<0.001). WY induced 20% and LIN over 95% LFC form
ation. PPAR-gamma mRNA was identified in preputial sebocytes by the RN
ase protection assay. These data suggest that differentiation of seboc
ytes is transduced by PPARs and have implications for the development
of new treatments for acne.