Research Proves Hair Growth by Stem Cells in Mice

Hair loss is a major concern for many and this may find a solution through the stem cell therapy tested in mice.

Recent study has proved the theory of human stem cells resulting in hair growth for the very first time.

Human pluripotent embryonic stem cells are stem cells that are capable of developing into any other cell, were developed into neural crest cells.

About Stem Cells
Encyclopedia section of medindia gives general info about Stem Cells

These are cells that can develop into a variety of cells on the head, including brain cells, cartilage, bone and muscle cells.

The cells were enticed to grow into dermal papillae cells, the cells that nourish the skin and regulate follicle growth and formation. These cells began to flourish when transplanted into hairless mice.

"We have developed a method using human pluripotent stem cells to create new cells capable of initiating human hair growth. The method is a marked improvement over current methods that rely on transplanting existing hair follicles from one part of the head to another," said Alexey Terskikh, Ph.D., Associate professor, Development, Aging and Regeneration Program at Sanford-Burnham.

Hair Loss | Alopecia in Women
Hair loss or Alopecia can be emotionally devastating to women but understanding reasons behind hair loss can help in prevention and treatment of hair loss.

He added, "Our stem cell method provides an unlimited source of cells from the patient for transplantation and isn't limited by the availability of existing hair follicles".

The same was tried with dermal papillae cells taken from the scalps of adult humans. In living culture, these cells are not suitable for hair transplants, since they lost their ability to induce follicle formation.

Causes of Hair Loss | Hair Fall
Worried about your hair loss? Before you leap into a course of treatment, look at what might be causing your hair to fall.

"In adults, dermal papilla cells cannot be readily amplified outside of the body and they quickly lose their hair-inducing properties. We developed a protocol to drive human pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into dermal papilla cells and confirmed their ability to induce hair growth when transplanted into mice" said Terskikh.

The next step is to transplant human dermal papilla cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells back into human subjects.

Premature Balding
Premature balding afflicts a large number of people, but doctors are just beginning to understand why some people start losing their hair as early as their twenties.

Source-Medindia