A new study of hair regrowth in mice offers some hope to millions of balding men and women that barren hair follicles could be rejuvenated.
To learn how a gene called Hairless regulates hair growth, scientists studied a line of completely bald mice that lacks the Hairless gene. These mice start with a full coat of fur, but once it falls out it never grows back.
By genetically engineering the hairless mice to produce Hairless protein in specific cells within their hair follicles, the scientists caused the mice to regrow thick fur.
Although hair growth in mice and humans is similar, baldness caused by mutations in the Hairless gene is a rare genetic disorder and is not directly related to common types of baldness, such as male pattern baldness.
But understanding the mechanisms by which hair normally regrows could help scientists figure what causes such cases of hair loss.
"Establishing this step-by-step process by which hair regrows will be useful for designing potential treatments for any type of baldness," said Catherine Thompson, a study author and neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.
The research is published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Hair Cycle
Hair follicles—skin cavities where individual hairs sit—are tiny organs that are able to regenerate themselves.
The hair growth cycle has several stages: growth, regression, rest, and reinitiation of growth. If something goes wrong with this process, hair thinning or baldness may result.
After hair grows to a particular length, it falls out and the lower part of the follicle is destroyed.
After a period of rest, however, the follicle receives a signal that tells it to regrow its lower part and produce a new hair. Until the new findings were made, the exact nature of that chemical signal remained unknown.
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