P#35  Expression of type I procollagen in perifollicular connective tissue sheath of hair follicle

Jun-Kyu Oh, Mi-Hyang Kim, Sang-Woong Youn, Kyoung-Chan Park, Hee-Chul Eun, Jin-Ho Chung. Dept of Dermatology, Seoul National University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Dermis contains predominantly type I collagen with ratio of 85-90%, and there have been known that dermal fibroblasts produce most of it. Perifollicular CT sheath also contains predominantly type I collagen and produce type I procollagen, but there have been no reports about its role in dermis. In this study we investigated he expression of type I procollagen in perifollicular CT sheath. The expression of type I procollagen mRNA and protein in perifollicular CT sheath are investigated using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. In human scalp skin the expression of type I procollagen and MMP-1 are compared between interfollicular dermis and perifollicular CT sheath using immunoblotting. The expression of type I procollagen mRNA and protein are also compared between cultured dermal fibroblasts and perifollicular CT sheath cells. In perifollicular CT sheath, type I procollagen is expressed in high level, and MMP-1 is expressed in very low level when compared with interfollicular dermis. With this study we found perifollicular CT sheath produce type I procollagen most actively in dermis. Further studies are necessary to find the possible role in producing dermal collagen.