<p>In the first step toward the development of a cell-based treatment for people with hair loss, US scientists have used human stem cells to generate new hair in the lab.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"We have developed a method using human pluripotent stem cells to create new cells capable of initiating human hair growth. The method is a marked improvement over current methods that rely on transplanting existing hair follicles from one part of the head to another," explained Alexey Terskikh, associate professor from Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham).<br /><br />The stem cell method provides an unlimited source of cells from the patient for transplantation and is not limited by the availability of existing hair follicles, he added.<br /><br />The team developed a protocol that coaxed human pluripotent stem cells to become dermal papilla cells.<br /><br />They are a unique population of cells that regulate hair-follicle formation and growth cycle.<br />Human dermal papilla cells on their own are not suitable for hair transplants because they cannot be obtained in necessary amounts and rapidly lose their ability to induce hair-follicle formation in culture.<br /><br />"In adults, dermal papilla cells cannot be readily amplified outside of the body and they quickly lose their hair-inducing properties," Terskikh noted.<br /><br />The team developed a protocol to drive human pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into dermal papilla cells and confirmed their ability to induce hair growth when transplanted into mice.<br /><br />The next step is to transplant human dermal papilla cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells back into human subjects," Terskikh emphasised.<br />The research was published online in the journal PLOS One.<br /></p>
<p>In the first step toward the development of a cell-based treatment for people with hair loss, US scientists have used human stem cells to generate new hair in the lab.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"We have developed a method using human pluripotent stem cells to create new cells capable of initiating human hair growth. The method is a marked improvement over current methods that rely on transplanting existing hair follicles from one part of the head to another," explained Alexey Terskikh, associate professor from Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham).<br /><br />The stem cell method provides an unlimited source of cells from the patient for transplantation and is not limited by the availability of existing hair follicles, he added.<br /><br />The team developed a protocol that coaxed human pluripotent stem cells to become dermal papilla cells.<br /><br />They are a unique population of cells that regulate hair-follicle formation and growth cycle.<br />Human dermal papilla cells on their own are not suitable for hair transplants because they cannot be obtained in necessary amounts and rapidly lose their ability to induce hair-follicle formation in culture.<br /><br />"In adults, dermal papilla cells cannot be readily amplified outside of the body and they quickly lose their hair-inducing properties," Terskikh noted.<br /><br />The team developed a protocol to drive human pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into dermal papilla cells and confirmed their ability to induce hair growth when transplanted into mice.<br /><br />The next step is to transplant human dermal papilla cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells back into human subjects," Terskikh emphasised.<br />The research was published online in the journal PLOS One.<br /></p>