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March, 2004
Stem cells offer promise for hair growth
Penn researchers successfully transplant
cells that lead to new hair follicles
(Philadelphia, PA) – Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine have isolated stem cells responsible for hair follicle growth. The
findings, published in the April issue of Nature Biotechnology, may serve
as the foundation for new hair loss and skin grafting treatments.
Hair grows from cells located at the base of the hair follicle. Hair
follicles continuously cycle through growth, rest, and re-growth phases. In many
people with hair loss, however, the follicles do not cycle correctly, with a
growing number of abnormal follicles entering longer resting phases and
producing only tiny invisible hairs.
Penn researchers suspected that stem cells located within the follicle bulge
were responsible for hair growth. To test their theory, they used sophisticated
cell labeling techniques to track the decedents of the stem cells during normal
hair growth and isolate them in adult mice. They transplanted a slurry of these
cells into the skin of a different set of adult mice with no immune systems.
(The absence of an immune system prevented the mice from rejecting the stem cell
transplant.)
Within four weeks, the transplanted cells made new hair follicles that
produced new hair. "Now that we can isolate stem cells involved in hair growth,
we can develop targets for manipulating hair growth," says study principal
investigator George Cotsarelis, MD, Director of the Penn Hair and Scalp Clinic
and Assistant Professor of Dermatology. Penn researchers hope to one day isolate
stem cells in an adult scalp and transplant those cells to other areas of the
scalp, generating new follicles and hair growth. Using the stem cell transplant
as a treatment for hair loss, however, is at least 10 years away, says
Cotsarelis.
The findings have implications not only for hair growth, but also for burn
treatments. "The cells that we have isolated not only make hair follicles, but
also can make other skin cells," says Cotsarelis. "These stem cells are there
for your lifetime and have a huge capacity to proliferate and regenerate."
Current skin grafting treatments fail to generate hair growth and often lead to
unsightly scars. One day, doctors may be able to isolate and use stem cells in
skin grafts for burn patients, generating better grafts with hairs.
 
Hair loss products and Hair loss treatments
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