Method for deriving melanocytes from the hair follicle outer root sheath and preparation for grafting

1. A method for generating melanocytes from outer root sheath cells comprising the steps of:

(i) removing a bulb of an epilated human hair;

(ii) incubating the epilated hair of step (i) with collagenase under conditions effective to separate outer root sheath cells from the outer root sheath, wherein the separation of the outer root sheath cells comprises migration of the outer root sheath cells from the outer root sheath, and wherein the outer root sheath cells include stem cells and precursor cells;

(iii) cultivating the separated outer root sheath cells from step (ii) in a medium comprising one or more growth factors for differentiation into melanotic melanocytes; and

(iv) differentiating the separated outer root sheath cells into melanotic melanocytes by the cultivation of step (iii).

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a step between step (ii) and (iii) of washing the epilated hair of step (i) with a washing solution after incubation with the collagenase.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a step of: at least one of selecting or isolating the differenced melanotic melanocytes from the culture.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the melanocytes are isolated using at least one of anatomic selection of hair root subsections or differential trypsinization.

5. The method according to claim 3 , wherein melanocytes are isolated using a Geneticin® treatment.

6. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the isolation comprises isolating the melanocytes using differentiate trypsinization and subsequently Geneticin® treatment.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the collagenase is selected from the group consisting of collagenase I, collagenase IV and collagenase V.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the medium further comprises one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of β-adrenergic receptor ligands, epinephrine, Ca 2+ , L-glutamine, insulin, fetal calf serum, human serum, and bovine pituitary gland extract.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the growth factors are selected from the group consisting of ethanolamine, phosphoethanolamine, hydrocortisone, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate (dbcAMP), melanocyte growth factor (MeGF), Kaposi's sarcoma derived FGF-like factor (hst/K-FGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), stem cell growth factor (SCF), endothelin 1, alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH), mixtures of native factors from medium conditioned by cultured human keratinocytes, bovine pituitary extract (BPE), bovine brain extract, and human serum.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the separation of the outer root sheath cells comprises migration of the outer root sheath cells from the outer root sheath to a mesh.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the mesh comprises a nylon mesh.

12. Melanotic melanocytes generated by the method according to claim 1 .

13. A method for treating a disease or condition in a subject, comprising applying the melanocytes generated according to the method of claim 1 to a subject in need thereof, wherein the disease or condition is selected from the group consisting of: leukoderma, vitiligo, quadrichrome vitiligo, vitiligo ponctué, syndromic Albinism, Alezzandrini syndrome, Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome, Chédiak-Higashi syndrome, Griscelli syndrome, Elejalde syndrome, Griscelli syndrome type 2, Griscelli syndrome type 3, Waardenburg syndrome, Tietz syndrome, Cross-McKusick-Breen syndrome, ABCD syndrome, Albinism-deafness syndrome, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome, oculocutaneous albinism, hypomelanosis, idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis, phylloid hypomelanosis, progressive macular hypomelanosis, piebaldism, nevus depigmentosus, postinflammatory hypopigmentation, pityriasis alba, Vagabond's leukomelanderma, Yemenite deaf-blind hypopigmentation syndrome, Wende-Bauckus syndrome, Woronoff's ring, amelanism, Leucism, diseases associated with depigmentation of the skin and conditions in need of repigmentation.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the melanocytes express at least one surface marker selected from the group consisting of: CD1a, CD28, CD77, CD79b, CD137 Ligand, CD140a, CD140b, CD282, HLA-A2, HLA-DQ, CD104, CD106, and CD142.

15. A method for producing a graft comprising melanocytes, said method comprising the steps of:

(i) providing a suspension comprising melanocytes obtained by a method for generating melanocytes from stem cells according to claim 1 ;

(ii) providing a biocompatible scaffold; and

(iii) cultivating the melanocytes on said biocompatible scaffold.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the suspension of step (i) further comprises introducing keratinocytes.

17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the melanocytes are cultivated until the formation of a stratum basale.

18. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the keratinocytes and melanocytes are provided in a ratio of 10:1.

19. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises the following steps:

(iv) stratifying keratinocytes on the melanocytes cultivated on the biocompatible scaffold;

(v) cultivating the keratinocytes and the melanocytes on the biocompatible scaffold.

20. The method according to claim 19 , wherein the cultivation of keratinocytes over the melanocytes is performed in a medium-air interface until formation of a stratum corneum in step (iv).

21. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the biocompatible scaffold comprises a three-dimensional fiber network.

22. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the biocompatible scaffold comprises at least one of the materials selected from the group consisting of polycaprolactone (PCL), collagen, human collagen I, human collagen IV, human collagen V, fibrin, and gelatine.

23. A graft of melanocytes generated by the method according to claim 15 .

24. A method for treating a disease in a subject, comprising applying the graft according to claim 23 to the subject, wherein the disease is selected from the group consisting of: leukoderma, vitiligo, quadrichrome vitiligo, vitiligo ponctué, syndromic Albinism, Alezzandrini syndrome, Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome, Chédiak-Higashi syndrome, Griscelli syndrome, Elejalde syndrome, Griscelli syndrome type 2, Griscelli syndrome type 3, Waardenburg syndrome, Tietz syndrome, Cross-McKusick-Breen syndrome, ABCD syndrome, Albinism-deafness syndrome, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome, oculocutaneous albinism, hypomelanosis, idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis, phylloid hypomelanosis, progressive macular hypomelanosis, piebaldism, nevus depigmentosus, postinflammatory hypopigmentation, pityriasis alba, Vagabond's leukomelanderma, Yemenite deaf-blind hypopigmentation syndrome, Wende-Bauckus syndrome, Woronoff's ring, amelanism, Leucism, diseases associated with depigmentation of the skin, and conditions in need of repigmentation.

25. A graft comprising melanocytes obtained by the method according to claim 1 and a biocompatible scaffold.

26. The graft of claim 25 , further comprising keratinocytes.

27. The graft of claim 26 , wherein the keratinocytes are stratified on the melanocytes.

28. The graft of claim 26 , wherein keratinocytes and melanocytes are provided in a ratio of 10:1.

29. The graft of claim 25 , wherein the biocompatible scaffold comprises a three-dimensional fiber network.

30. The graft of claim 25 , wherein the biocompatible scaffold comprises at least one material selected from the group comprising polycaprolactone (PCL), collagen, human collagen I, human collagen IV, human collagen V, fibrin, and gelatine.