Claims for Patent: 8,871,194

Summary for Patent: 8,871,194

Title:	Method for transforming a hair follicle
Abstract:	To provide a transformed hair follicle and a method for transferring a gene to a mammal by means of the transformed hair follicle. The invention provides a method for producing a transformed hair follicle including transferring a gene into a hair follicle by use of a virus vector, characterized by including providing a lentivirus pseudo-typed with VSV-G as a virus vector and transfecting a hair follicle with the lentivirus ex vivo.
Inventor(s):	Hachiya; Akira (Cincinnati, OH), Sriwiriyanont; Penkanok (Cincinnati, OH)
Assignee:	Kao Corporation (Tokyo, JO)
Application Number:	12/010,426
Patent Claims:	1. A method of transforming a hair follicle stem cell, the method comprising: (a) collecting a tissue sample containing a hair follicle from the skin of a mammal; (b) trimming the tissue so that said sample consists essentially of a hair follicle; (c) contacting the tissue of step (b) with a VSV-G pseudo-typed lentiviral vector in the absence of a collagenase treatment, wherein the lentiviral vector comprises an exogenous gene; and (d) culturing the tissue of step (c) in hair follicular organ culture medium such that a hair follicle stem cell in the bulge region of the hair follicle is transformed and expresses the exogenous gene. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mammal is human. 3. A method of transferring a gene into a mammal, the method comprising: (a) collecting a tissue sample containing a hair follicle from the skin of a mammal; (b) trimming the tissue so that said sample consists essentially of a hair follicle; (c) contacting the tissue of step (b) with a VSV-G pseudo-typed lentiviral vector in the absence of collagenase treatment, wherein the lentiviral vector comprises an exogenous gene; (d) culturing the tissue of step (c) in hair follicular organ culture medium such that a hair follicle stem cell in the bulge region of the hair follicle is transformed and expresses the exogenous gene; and (e) transplanting the transformed hair follicle of step d) into a recipient mammal. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the hair follicle is of human origin. 5. A method for determining whether a transfected gene changes the shape or property of hair, the method comprising: (a) collecting a tissue sample containing a hair follicle from the skin of a mammal; (b) trimming the tissue so that said sample consists essentially of a hair follicle; (c) contacting the tissue of step (b) with a VSV-G pseudo-typed lentiviral vector in the absence of collagenase treatment, wherein the lentiviral vector comprises an exogenous gene; and (d) culturing the tissue of step (c) in hair follicular organ culture medium such that a hair follicle stem cell in the bulge region of the hair follicle is transformed and expresses the exogenous gene; (e) transplanting the transformed hair follicle of step d) into a recipient mammal; and (f) determining whether the expression of said gene changes the shape or property of the hair. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein (c) and (d) are performed 2 or 3 times. 7. The method of claim 1 or 3, wherein expression of said gene is detectable three months after transplantation of said transformed hair follicle. 8. The method of claim 5, wherein expression of said gene is detectable three months after transplantation of said transformed hair follicle. 9. The method of claim 5, wherein the hair follicle is of human origin. 10. The method of claim 1, 3, or 5, which results in the expression of said gene in hair follicle keratinocytes and melanocytes. 11. The method of claim 3 or 5, which results in the expression of said gene in a hair bulb of said recipient mammal. 12. The method of claim 2, 4, or 9, wherein the hair follicle is of human scalp origin.

Details for Patent 8,871,194

Applicant	Tradename	Biologic Ingredient	Dosage Form	BLA	Approval Date	Patent No.	Expiredate
Smith & Nephew, Inc.	SANTYL	collagenase	Ointment	101995	06/04/1965		2039-03-29