Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Flat Mount Imaging of Mouse Skin and Its Application to the Analysis of Hair Follicle Patterning and Sensory Axon Morphology
Published on: June 25, 2014
Epidermal patterning and induction of different hair types during mouse embryonic development
Olivier Duverger1, Maria I Morasso
1Developmental Skin Biology Section, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
None:
An intriguing question in developmental biology is how epidermal pattern formation processes are established and what are the molecular mechanisms involved in these events. The establishment of the pattern is concomitant with the formation of ectodermal appendages, which involves complex interactions between the epithelium and the underlying mesenchyme. Among ectodermal appendages, hair follicles are the "mini organs" that produce hair shafts. Several developmental and structural features are common to all hair follicles and to the hair shaft they produce. However, many different hair types are produced in a single organism. Also, different characteristics can be observed depending on the part of the body where the hair follicle is formed. Here, we review the mechanisms involved in the patterning of different hair types during mouse embryonic development as well as the influence of the body axes on hair patterning.
Related Concept Videos
Gastrulation
Accessory Structures of the Skin: Hair Growth and Types
Accessory Structures of the Skin: Hair and Hair Follicles
Hair is a keratinous filament growing out of the epidermis. It is primarily made of dead, keratinized cells. Hair strands originate at the epidermal penetration called the hair follicle. The hair shaft is the part...
Determination
Multipotency and Niche of Bulge Stem Cell
Hedgehog Signaling Pathway

