Bioengineered Follicles Grow Hair On Bald Mice

Bioengineered Follicles Grow Hair On Bald Mice

Published: Saturday 21 April 2012 at 12am PST
Source: medicalnewstoday.com

In a proof of concept study for bioengineered organ replacement, researchers in Japan made hair follicles derived from adult stem cells interact with surrounding tissue and show normal hair cycles, when transplanted into the skin of bald mice.

Takashi Tsuji, a Professor in the Research Institute for Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, and Director of Organ Technologies Inc, led the team, who report their findings in an open access paper published in Nature Communications on 17 April.

The study is significant on two counts: first it used adult stem cells and not embryonic stem cells, and second, the bioengineered follicles were fully functional and integrated into surrounding tissue, something that has not been managed before.

Not only does the study raise hopes of a cure for baldness, the researchers say it also represents a significant advance toward the next generation of "organ replacement regenerative therapies" that will enable the replacement of organs damaged by disease, injury or aging.

The researchers bioengineered hair follicle germ cells, the cells that mature into cells that grow hair, from two other types of cell: adult epithelial stem cells and dermal papilla cells.

They implanted the bioengineered cells into the skin of hairless mice and showed that they went on to have normal hair cycles, where after dead hairs fell out, new ones took their place.

The cells also showed other signs of normal functioning, such as piloerection, where the hair "stands on end" as a result of contraction of tiny surrounding muscles.

The authors write that the bioengineered follicles showed these restored functions "through the rearrangement of follicular stem cells and their niches". This is important because the "niches", a loose term to describe the microenvironment of stem cells, are what regulate normal stem cell behavior: for instance, they decide when to wake up stem cells to mature into fully formed follicles.

As well as demonstrating normal functioning, the bioengineered hair follicles developed the correct structures and made the right connections with surrounding tissue, including the epidermis, arrector pili muscles (the ones that produce piloerection) and nerve fibers.

The authors write:

"... our findings indicate that it is possible to not only restore a hair follicle but also to re-establish successful connections with the recipient skin by intracutaneous transplantation of the bioengineered follicle germ."

In their discussion they conclude:

"These findings significantly advance the technological development of bioengineered hair follicle regenerative therapy", and make a substantial contribution that will "enable future regenerative therapy for hair loss caused by injury or by diseases such as alopecia and androgenic alopecia".

They call for further studies to find out how to optimize human hair follicle-derived stem cell sources for clinical applications, and for further investigations of stem cell niches, as these will contribute to the "development of hair regenerative therapy as a prominent class of organ replacement regenerative therapy in the future".

Written by Catharine PaddockPhD

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Treating Baldness is "Not Like Growing Grass"

Treating Baldness is "Not Like Growing Grass"

By Rose Eveleth

Date: June 8, 2012
Source: scientificamerican.com

Progress may seem slow, but new treatments for hair loss are underway

Plain Grass lawn

More than 40 percent of men in the U.S. will show signs of male-pattern baldness sometime between the ages of 18 and 49. But studies looking at the genomes of this group of men have failed to turn up a genetic cause, which makes a true cure seem an unlikely prospect. 

Treatments for male-pattern baldness, also known as androgenic alopecia, may be forthcoming, however. Recent work is homing in on three types, including one that was reported in March in the journal Science. In the new paper, George Cotsarelis of the University of Pennsylvania and his team found that a compound known as prostaglandin D2 (PD2) was elevated in the blood of men with male-pattern baldness. When they blocked PD2 receptors in mice, they ensured that the hair did not stop growing. Those blockers could be applied topically, Cotsarelis says.

He is also working on growing new hair. Researchers have noticed that if you wound a mouse, the animal generates new hair follicles as part of the healing process. The new follicles come from skin cells that turn into hair follicles through what is called the Wnt-mediated signaling pathway. It is the same pathway that helps you generate new hairs naturally as they fall out. Cotsarelis is working with a company to replicate that process.

A third approach, called follicular neogenesis, would allow doctors to remove, multiply and then reimplant the stem cells found inside a person’s hair follicles. So far, though, when researchers remove the stem cells and culture them, the cells appear to “forget” they were ever hair cells. Researchers are now attempting to figure out how to restore their “memory.”

As scientists continue to search for treatments to androgenic alopecia, they recommend patience. “People think of it like growing grass or something, but it’s nothing like that,” Cotsarelis says. “It’s like trying to treat cancer; it’s a complicated process.”

This article was published in print as "It's Not "Like Growing Grass"."

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Scientists' 'vampire treatment' for baldness

Scientists' 'vampire treatment' for baldness

By Jasper Copping
7:30AM BST 05 May 2013
Source: telegraph.co.uk

Scientists believe among others the treatment
 could help male-pattern baldness (Photo: gettyimages.com)

Scientists believe they may have hit upon a cure for baldness — but it is not for the faint-hearted.

Researchers found they were able to regrow hair on the bald patches on people’s heads by injecting them with a solution derived from their own blood.

The so-called “vampire” treatment involved taking blood from the patient and processing it in a machine that extracts “platelet-rich plasma” (PRP), which is then injected back into the head.

Scientists believe the solution then stimulates new stem cells below the skin which can aid the regrowth of hair.

Such “vampire” treatments are already used in some cosmetic procedures, where injections of PRP are used in an effort to reduce the effects of aging on the face and hands.

The new treatment could have helped Sir Elton John who invested in a hair transplant.

The research, published in the latest edition of the British Journal of Dermatology, was conducted among a group of people suffering from alopecia areata, which affects about 2 per cent of the population.

However, the scientists believe it could also help those suffering more common varieties, such as male pattern baldness. Dr Fabio Rinaldi said: “We think it can help to regrow hair on people with androgenic alopecia (male pattern baldness). We believe it is the best treatment available, apart from surgery.”

The study involved 45 patients, who received the injections on just one half of their head. Some were given the PRP, some were given a more traditional steroid treatment, while others received a placebo.

A total of three treatments were given to each patient, once a month. Hair growth was assessed by measuring the area where new hairs grew on the bald scalp. The PRP was found to lead to significant hair regrowth in the bald patches, compared with both the placebo and the steroid treatment.

The scientists, based at the International Hair Research Foundation and University of Brescia in Italy and the Hebrew University Medical Centre in Israel, are carrying out further research. They hope to be able to develop the treatment as a cream, to avoid the need for needles.

Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists, said: “Alopecia is known to lead to overwhelming effects on the patient’s quality of life and self-esteem. This could offer hope to thousands.”

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