Role of Sonic hedgehog signaling in epithelial and mesenchymal development of hair follicles in an organ culture of embryonic mouse skin

Studies with gene knockout mice have shown that Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is required for early development of hair follicles, but the role of this gene in the late stages of follicle development is not clear. By using an organ culture system of embryonic mouse skin, the role of Shh signaling in the early and late stages of follicle development was investigated. In the early stage of follicle development, the downward growth of the follicular epithelium was suppressed by cyclopamine, an inhibitor of Shh signaling, and accelerated by recombinant Shh. In addition, cyclopamine impaired dermal papilla formation, accompanied by the rearrangement of papilla cells, but not the elongation of the follicular epithelium at the later stage. These results suggest that Shh signaling is required for the proliferation of epithelial cells in the early development of hair follicles and for the morphogenetic movement of mesenchymal cells at the later stage of follicle development.