journal article·2026-06-04Open access

Hair Follicle Seedling Cryomicroneedles from Hierarchical Microfluidic Organoid on a Chip

Xinyue Cao, Dongyu Xu, Minhui Lu, Yuanjin Zhao

Abstract

ABSTRACT Hair follicle organoids (HFOs) have demonstrated revolutionary regenerative potential in hair follicle regeneration, while their high‐throughput production, uniform morphology, excellent hair growth potential, and simple and efficient intradermal transplantation are still challenges. In this paper, we present novel hair follicle seedling cryomicroneedles to achieve bionic hair regeneration by using a hierarchical microfluidic organoid‐on‐a‐chip. Our integrated chip features a fluidic channel module and a hierarchical microneedle template module, enabling microflow‐guided uniform cell distribution into needle‐shaped microwells to form HFOs. Cryopreservation agents (CPA)‐containing pregel solutions are injected to encapsulate HFOs following UV gelation, and the final HFO‐loaded cryomicroneedle (cryoMN@HFO) is obtained after freezing and demolding. We have demonstrated that the cryoMNs@HFOs could preserve homogeneous HFO morphology, favorable viability, and excellent hair growth potential. Besides, the cryoMN@HFOs possess good skin penetration ability and biosafety, enabling rapid transplantation of HFOs into the dermis. Thus, after intradermal transplantation in animal experiments, the delivered organoids develop into fully functional hair follicles with mature structures in vivo. Based on these advantages, we believe that this technology holds promise for human hair follicle reconstruction.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Hair Growth and Disorders · Reproductive Biology and Fertility · Skin and Cellular Biology Research

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Rheumatology and Immunology School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Southeast University Nanjing China

Wenzhou Institute University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Wenzhou China

Funding

National Key Research and Development Program of China · National Natural Science Foundation of China

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