The potential of Spirulina maxima extract-treated conditioned medium from adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells for hair growth promoting effect on human dermal papilla cells.

INTRODUCTION: Therapeutic applications using adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) have been highlighted as an attractive option to treat multiple diseases. It is widely accepted that ADMSCs exhibit their curative effects on hair loss via diverse secretory factors which promote hair follicle growth and remodeling of hair growth cycle. Recently, further studies using marine resources have been carried out to stimulate ADMSCs, enhancing both the quantitative and qualitative secretion to obtain more effective ADMSCs-derived conditioned medium (ACM). METHODS: Our study investigated the effects of Spirulina maxima on cell proliferation in ADMSCs and determined optimal treatment condition. Human growth factor array was performed to evaluate the effects of S. maxima treatment on the alterations of growth factors secretion in ADMSCs. Subsequently, we examined the effects of S. maxima-treated ACM (SACM) on cell proliferation and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in human dermal papilla cells (HDPCs). The underlying mechanisms of hair growth promotion effect of SACM was illustrated by confirming the expression levels of proteins related to mTOR/Akt and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. RESULTS: S. maxima extract promoted cell proliferation in ADMSCs and stimulated the secretion of fibroblast growth factor (FGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). SACM treatment also increased cell proliferation and ALP activity in HDPCs, similar with those of ACM treatment. Furthermore, SACM significantly enhanced in vitro hair growth promotion by activating mTOR/Akt and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: SACM could be a more effective regenerative therapy for the promotion of hair growth and might have the potential to utilizing in pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries compared to non-treated ACM, suggesting the potential of S. maxima as an ADMSCs-preconditioning agent.