Briefly stated, the present invention provides compositions and methods for treating or preventing joint injuries utilizing hair follicle derived Non-Bulbar Dermal Sheath (“NDBS”) cells. Within one aspect of the invention methods are provided for isolating NBDS cells, comprising the steps of: (a) preparing vital hair； (b) cleaving the hair prepared in step (a) to remove the hair follicle bulb； (c) isolating Non-Bulbar Dermal Sheath tissue； and (d) cultivating the isolated Non-Bulbar Dermal sheath tissue to produce NBDS cells. Within one embodiment of the invention the vital hair is obtained by full skin biopsy from the occipital scalp of a subject.
