Researchers find the cells at the roots of balding and gray hair. PG Wodehouse once wrote about a cure for gray hair called guillotine, but now scientists have found another way. Now they’ve recognized the cells that let our hair grow, so further insight into the mechanisms that cause hair to turn gray and bald Scientists say this could be used to make treatments for graying hair and balding soon. These new findings are published in the journal Genes & Development.
Thus, researchers explored stem cells deep in the hair follicles, identified as hair progenitor cells, along with two proteins called KROX20 and stem cell factor (SCF). They’ve found that KROX20 “turned on” in skin cells that became the hair shaft; however, hair progenitor cells then produced SCF, which is vital for hair pigmentation. Thus, if cells with both KROX20 and SCF exist, they move up from the follicle, interact with pigment-producing melanocyte cells, and grow into pigmented hairs.
Therefore, once the team “deleted” the KROX20-producing cells in mice, they didn’t grow any hair and became bald. Moreover, when they deleted the SCF gene in the hair progenitor cells in mice, their hair turned white. Thus, this new discovery was stumbled upon by coincidence, as KROX20 is naturally associated with nerve development. The scientists found the cells by studying a disorder called neurofibromatosis type 1, a rare genetic disease that causes tumors to grow on nerves.
Dr. Lu Le, the lead researcher from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said in a statement that this project began in an effort to comprehend how certain kinds of tumors form, and it ended up learning why hair turns gray and discovering the identity of the cell that directly gives rise to hair.
Hence, with this knowledge, we are confident in the future to make a topical compound or to safely deliver the essential gene to hair follicles to precisely address these cosmetic problems. The next step is to find out how both the KROX20 in cells and the SCF gene stop working correctly as people age, as well as their role in male pattern baldness. In the meantime, it’s time to start accepting that gray streak or rocking the bald look. Source: IFL Science
