Cell proliferation and lipid formation in hamster sebaceous gland cells.

Background: The development of sebocytes and lipogenesis are known to be dependent on androgens. However, it is not fully understood whether growth factors are involved in the regulation of cell proliferation and lipid formation in sebaceous glands.

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of growth factors such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) on cell proliferation and lipogenesis in cultured hamster sebocytes.

Epidermal growth factor and 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 suppress lipogenesis in hamster sebaceous gland cells in vitro.

We have previously reported the establishment of a culture system of hamster auricular sebocytes. Although their morphologic and biochemical properties are very similar to those of human sebocytes, the regulation of lipogenesis is not clear. Therefore, we investigated the effect of epidermal growth factor, all-trans retinoic acid, 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, and androgens such as testosterone and 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone on lipogenesis in cultured hamster sebocytes.

Establishment of a tissue culture system for hamster sebaceous gland cells.

Background: A human sebaceous gland culture system is very useful in studying the functions of the sebaceous glands at the cellular level. On the other hand, the success rates for culture systems and the experimental results from these human culture systems exhibit significant fluctuations, depending on the condition of the donor skin.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to establish a stable culture system in order to investigate the functions of the sebaceous glands under uniform conditions.