A multiscale model on hair follicle bulb replenishment

RoseJohnson-Leiva

UC Riverside

"A multiscale model on hair follicle bulb replenishment"

Hair follicles (HFs) are mini-organs in skin who undergo cyclic growth. During the anagen phase, the hair shaft is produced from the bottom part of a HF, referred to as the hair bulb. Proper regulations of the HF bulb cell fate decisions are crucial to maintain an anagen HF, therefore guaranteeing the continuous production of hair. Recent experiments have provided evidence on how the HF bulb is replenished during anagen. In this paper, we develop a hybrid multiscale computational model on HF bulb, integrating an agent-based submodel of cell divisions and movement, and a reaction-advection-diffusion equation submodel of diffusive signaling dynamics. Using our model, we investigate the HF bulb replenishment dynamics driven by different cell dividing strategies, showing that signaling-driven cell division may lead to efficient replenishment dynamics.
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