A Method for Culturing Mouse Whisker Follicles to Study Circadian Rhythms ex vivo

Ex vivo tissue-culture experiments are often performed in the field of circadian biology. The major aim of these experiments is to evaluate circadian characteristics such as period length at the tissue-autonomous level by monitoring clock gene expression in real time. This culture method is also used to examine the tissue specificity of circadian entrainment factors. However, an ex vivo culture method for monitoring clock gene expression in hair follicles has yet to be established. In the present study, we developed an experimental method to analogize and evaluate circadian characteristics by performing ex vivo culture of mouse whisker follicles and monitoring clock gene expression in real time.