'Hedgehog' may cure baldness
by PAT HAGAN, Daily Mail
Source: dailymail.co.uk
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| Sonic the Hedgehog |
The first tests on humans are being planned after laboratory studies on mice showed they grew thick tufts of new hair within two weeks of the treatment. If this success is repeated in human trials, a cure for baldness could be developed within the next few years.
The breakthrough treatment is potentially far more effective than the Propecia regrowth pills about to be launched in Britain.
Doctors who discovered the genetic therapy believe it will work best on sick patients who, for example, may have lost their hair through chemotherapy. But they are also confident it could trigger new hair growth in men who have 'pattern baldness' - where their hair has receded for no obvious reason.
Up to half of men over 40 and a significant number of women - may be affected by hair loss, and although new drugs are coming on the market, they have had mixed results and are not suitable for everybody.
The genetic breakthrough by scientists at the Institute of Genetic Medicine at Cornell University, New York, came after they decided to apply technology already being used to repair diseased hearts to the problem of hair loss. This involves identifying genes known to play an important part in the development of the body and deploying them to kick-start growth in organs that are giving up.
In the case of hair, scientists pinpointed the Sonic Hedgehog gene as the ideal candidate for the job. So-called because the researcher who first identified it thought its shape resembled the computer-game character, the gene plays a key role in the embryonic development of the brain, heart, lungs, skeleton, skin and hair.
It was injected into the mice to see if it could speed up the natural process of producing hair. To measure if hair around the site of the injection was growing, the black-haired mice were dyed blonde. After seven days, hair follicles around the patch being treated had sprung back into action and were showing signs of thickening. After just 14 days, shafts of black hair 1/2 cm long had emerged on the backs of the mice.
Everybody has this gene. And, as it seems to be involved in hair growth, we thought that if we turned up expression of the gene for a few days we could wake up sleeping hair follicles and make them grow,' says Dr Ronald Crystal, who led the research team.
'There are 100,000 hair follicles in your head when you are born and you don't get any more - that's it. 'But if you look at someone who has lost their hair through chemotherapy, they still have those follicles. It's the same for a man who is bald. He has hair follicles too, but they are sleeping.
'We don't have the slightest idea if this would work in bald men - humans are not just big mice. But we are hopeful.' Dr Crystal and his team are considering trying out the therapy on humans, and several leading drug companies have already expressed an interest in the technique.
But one of the biggest problems they face is that over-expression of the Sonic Hedgehog gene is directly linked to a type of skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma. This is the most common form of skin cancer in the UK with at least 30,000 new cases every year. During laboratory tests, none of the mice developed the condition. 'The mice are six months old now and so far as we can tell they look normal,' says Dr Crystal. 'There are no adverse effects and what we are essentially doing is accelerating the normal process.
There are 100,000 genes so you have to choose your gene carefully but it's not rocket science. 'It's the same technique we are using to grow new blood vessels in people with severe cardiovascular disease, though we use different genes.'
John Mason, president of the UK Institute of Trichologists experts in hair loss - said it was too early to judge whether the treatment could be the answer to baldness. 'I am rather negative about this. I doubt if there is anything in it, and if there is, then it's a long way away,' he said.
