Background

β-catenin plays a pivotal role in hair follicle development and hair growth cycle.

Objective

The aim of this study was to identify β-catenin-regulated genes in cultured human hair outer root sheath (ORS) cells.

Methods

Primary cultured ORS cells were transduced with recombinant adenovirus expressing N-terminal truncated β-catenin (constitutive active form), and β-catenin-regulated genes were identified.

Results

Overexpression of the constitutively active form of β-catenin led to induction of Sox9 expression at both mRNA and protein levels. To investigate the potential role of Sox9, we made the recombinant adenovirus expressing green fluorescent protein-tagged Sox9, and then transduced into cultured ORS cells. Interestingly, Sox9 induced the expression of keratin 15, increased the proliferation of ORS cells in vitro, and enhanced colony-forming activity.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that Sox9 is a β-catenin-regulated gene in ORS cells, and has potential importance in the regulation of hair follicle homeostasis.

H-Dmt-Tic-ε-Lys(Z)-OH (1) was used in the synthesis of 18F-labeled opioids for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging by coupling N-succinimidyl-4-[18F]fluorobenzoate ([18F]SFB) with Boc-Dmt-Tic-ε-Lys(Z)-OH under slightly basic conditions at 37 °C for 15 min, deprotected with TFA and HPLC purification in 120 min with a decay-corrected radiochemical 25–30% yield of [18F]-1 (n = 5) and specific activity ca. 46 GBq/µmol. Autoradiography uptake of [18F]-1 in striatum and cortex was blocked by 1 and UFP-501 demonstrating specific binding to δ-opioid receptors. MicroPET imaging revealed the absence of [18F]-1 in rat brain, suggesting its suitability for imaging peripheral δ-opioid receptors.