Baldness cure may be on horizon
Updated on 16 May 2007
A cure for baldness may be on the horizon following the discovery that hair follicles can be regenerated in mammalian skin.
Scientists made the breakthrough in mice after identifying a mechanism that allows dormant genes to re-awaken.
A US company, Follica Inc, has now licensed the technology in the hope of developing new treatments for hair loss and acne.
While adult mammals can repair injuries to themselves, they lack the ability to rebuild lost parts of their bodies - unlike newts and salamanders which can sprout entirely new limbs.
Experts previously thought it was equally impossible for adult skin to regenerate hair follicles.
The number of available follicles was set at birth, it was believed. Although there are reports going back 50 years of hair spontaneously re-growing on sites of wounds, these have been discounted due to lack of evidence.
The new study proved that fresh follicles really can form when large patches of skin are removed from the backs of mice. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine were able to demonstrate that healing effectively turned the clock back to an early stage of embryonic development.
Genes that had lain dormant since the mice were embryos sprang back into life, sending stem cells to the site of the injury. The unprogrammed cells eventually developed into new hair follicles.
The researchers found they could take advantage of this "embryonic window" to control the process with Wnt proteins, which play a key role in normal follicle development.
By introducing more Wnt proteins to the wound, they were able to double the number of new hair follicles. Conversely, blocking Wnt proteins halted follicle production.
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