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Article History

Received: 30 May 2025

Accepted: 22 October 2025

First Online: 17 November 2025

Declarations

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: Human hair follicles used for the isolation of HF-MSCs were obtained via the Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) technique during routine hair transplant procedures at Clínica Dermatológica Ercilla (Spain). The study protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) under the following projects: “Utilización de células madre mesenquimales extraídas del folículo piloso para su uso en terapias celulares” (Approval code: M10_2019_053; Date of approval: 20 February 2019) and “Aplicaciones terapéuticas del secretoma derivado de células madre del folículo piloso humano” (Approval code: M30_2019_054; Date of approval: 3 September 2019). All donors provided written informed consent, and the study was conducted in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. PBMCs were obtained from buffy coats sourced from healthy donors through the Basque Biobank. These blood samples were originally collected at the Basque Transfusion Centre. All sample acquisition and transfer procedures adhered to the provisions outlined in Spanish Law 14/2007 on Biomedical Research and Royal Decree 1716/2011, which regulates the operation of biobanks and the use of human biological samples for research purposes. The Basque Biobank operates under authorization from the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of the Basque Country (CEIm CES-BIOEF; approval no. 2023-06, dated 28/02/2023). The experimental protocol titled “Use of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) for the evaluation of delivery systems of immunomodulatory and/or immunoenhancing therapies” received approval from the Ethics Committee for Research Involving Human Subjects at the University of the Basque Country (CEISH, UPV/EHU; approval no. M10_2022_131MR1, dated 01/06/2022). Written informed consent was obtained from all donors for the research use of their blood samples. Furthermore, the manipulation and use of these cells were approved by the Research Ethics Committee for Biological Agents and Genetically Modified Organisms (CEIAB, UPV/EHU; approval no. M30_2022_132MR1, dated 21/03/2023). Commercial cell lines, including HDFs (ATCC, PCS-201-012), HUVECs (Lonza, C2519A), and HaCaTs (DKFZ, Germany), were acquired from certified repositories and used in accordance with institutional biosafety and ethical guidelines. The use of HDFs was additionally covered by a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) between ATCC and UPV/EHU (case ES 20019874, 2020). As part of its policy, ATCC ensures compliance with ethical standards, including informed consent and donor confidentiality, as outlined in the Donor Policy Letter (2021).

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.