Fig. 2: Anagen hair follicles remodel the epidermis of mature scars.

a Representative immunofluorescence images of scars before (0 mo) and at 2, 4, and 6 months post-transplant of anagen hair follicles. We used DAPI to image cell nuclei and measure the thickness of the viable epidermis (dotted lines). b We observed an increase in the epidermal thickness after hair follicles (HF) were transplanted into mature scars (n = 20, N = 3). c Staining for Ki67 to quantify the percentage of proliferating cells in the viable epidermis (dotted lines) of mature scars before (0 mo) and after (2, 4, 6 mo) hair follicle transplantation. d The percentage of proliferating cells in the scar epidermis increased after hair follicle transplantation (n = 8, N = 2). e Epidermal–dermal junction (EDJ) stained for collagen type IV (COLIV) present in the basement membrane. f The arc-chord ratio revealed increased interdigitation after transplantation of hair follicles (n = 20, N = 3). g We measured the immunofluorescence signal of collagen type IV (COLIV) across the EDJ by probing the data along 25 µm trajectories traversing the EDJ. h The thickness of the basement membrane and abundancy of COLIV were measured as the width and peak of the COLIV intensity profiles. i The thickness of the basement membrane increased post-transplant as compared to mature scars (n = 20, N = 3). j The peak intensity increased at 2 and 6 months after transplantation (n = 20, N = 3). Reported P values are based on two‑way ANOVA tests, and the horizontal lines show grand means. Scale bars = 200 µm.