SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AntiCancer Inc. has announced extensive hair-shaft elongation by isolated mouse whisker follicles in very long-term culture outside the body. AntiCancer Inc. has previously discovered that cultured skin can produce growing hair. In their new study, AntiCancer scientists have grown hair from isolated mouse whisker hair follicles in long-term 3-dimensional culture and have used imaging technology to show that hair growth correlates with hair-follicle stem cell growth. The new study is published in PLOS ONE (http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0138005).
“It was a surprise to see extensive hair growth from isolated hair follicles over long periods of culture,” said Charlene Cooper, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of AntiCancer Inc. “The hair follicles can produce long hair and survive for over 2 months in culture and provide the opportunity to discover new effective agents that promote hair growth,” said Ms. Cooper. “The role of stem cells in hair growth will also be investigated in long-term 3-dimensional culture.”
AntiCancer Inc., founded in 1984 and based in San Diego, with offices and laboratories in Seoul, Beijing, Nanjing and Tokyo, has developed the leading mouse models of cancer including MetaMouse®, AngioMouse® and StromaMouse®. These mouse models are made imageable with AntiCancer’s OncoBrite® technology and are the models of choice for novel drug discovery for cancer. With its proprietary mouse models, AntiCancer is the foremost pre-clinical cancer contract research organization. AntiCancer offers the world’s largest collection of fluorescent-protein-expressing cancer cell lines and transgenic fluorescent nude mice. AntiCancer is a pioneer in fluorescence-guided surgery of cancer using its patient-like mouse models. AntiCancer is also developing biological drugs that target cancer-specific metabolic defects, including recombinant methioninase (rMETase). AntiCancer developed the Histoculture Drug Response Assay (HDRA) and patient-derived orthotopic xenografts (PDOXTM) for individualized cancer treatment. AntiCancer is also developing tumor-targeting bacteria for the general cure of cancer. AntiCancer has also discovered hair-follicle-associated pluripotent (HAP) stem cells that produce neurons, heart muscle cells and other cell types for regenerative medicine. The company markets recombinant-enzyme-based diagnostics for cancer and cardiovascular disease in its wholly-owned A/C Diagnostics LLC subsidiary.
