The results could provide a roadmap for the development of new treatments for androgenetic alopecia.
Researchers have disproved the notion that senescent pigment cells in skin moles inhibit regeneration by demonstrating that these cells can drive strong hair growth. The study revealed that osteopontin and CD44 are important players in this process, suggesting new treatment possibilities for prevalent hair loss diseases.
A study team led by the University of California, Irvine has discovered the mechanism through which ageing, or senescent, pigment-producing skin cells in nevi produce considerable hair growth. The finding might provide a blueprint for a brand-new class of molecular treatments for androgenetic alopecia, a common kind of hair loss in both men and women.
The study highlights the crucial function that osteopontin and CD44 molecules play in triggering hair growth inside hairy skin nevi. It was published on June 21 in the journal Nature. These skin nevi exhibit extremely strong hair growth while accumulating an unusually high number of senescent pigment cells.
Maksim Plikus, a professor of developmental and cell biology at the University of California, Irvine, is the lead corresponding author. “We found that senescent pigment cells produce large quantities of a specific signalling molecule called osteopontin, which causes normally dormant and diminutive hair follicles to activate their stem cells for robust growth of long and thick hairs,” he said. Our research unequivocally demonstrates that cellular senescence has a positive side to it. Senescent cells are often seen as detrimental to regeneration and are assumed to promote the ageing process as they amass in tissues throughout the body.
Stem cell activation effectively controls the growth of hair follicles; as these cells divide, hair follicles can create new hair in a cyclical fashion.
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