A hair repeats hair cycle comprising anagen phase, catagen phase and telogen phase, and structure of hair follicles changes in things of hair cycle dynamically. Therefore an argument has been repeated about localization of hair follicle stem cell. It was thought that hair follicle stem cell was present in bulge area since bulge theory was proposed in 1991 by Cotsarelis. However, in late years a cell emerging in Nestin which is a nerve stem cell marker is present in from bulge area more upward area, and keratinocyte, melanocyte, smooth-muscle cells, a nerve cell vary when incubates the cell; it became clear to differentiate, and a thing having multipotency was shown this cell. This suggests that hair follicle stem cell is present from the bulge area where it was thought till now above.
Therefore, In this time we used an optical microscope and an electron microscope and performed examination of histology for the purpose of clarifying localization and fine structure of the Nestin positive cell that we showed multipotency in human hair follicles. Materials are skin tissue of cephalic human obtained at an operation. We saved biopsied skin samples for paraffin section and frozen section and electron microscopes. We performed H.E dyeing than paraffin section and confirmed hair follicles structure and, by the immunostaining that we used Nestin for, examined localization of a Nestin positive cell. In addition, we examined fine structure of a Nestin positive cell with an electron microscope.
As a result, a Nestin positive cell was found in the outer root sheath most crust of the sebaceous aperture direct top and the lateral connective tissue and revealed nerve ending in the dermis side of the locus.