By studying mice, researchers found that stem cells in the fatty layer of the skin send signals that trigger hairgrowth, and suggest the discovery could lead to new treatments forreversing baldness . The Yale researchers write about their study in the 2 Septemberissue of Cell . Senior author Valerie Horsley, assistant professor of molecular,cellular and developmental biology, told the press that: "If we can get these fat cells in the skin to talk to the dormantstem cells at the base of hair follicles, we might be able to gethair to grow again." The skin of a mammal is a complex organ comprising many types ofcell in various layers. Also, while it looks like it's not doingmuch, inside these layers there is enormous dynamic activity, butit is stable, because the cells signal to each other to ensure ahomeostatic balance between processes of growth, death andregeneration of different types of tissue. One such process is the generation of hair. Hair grows because stemcells in the follicle roots receive signals that jump start thefairly complex cycle of hair regeneration, growth and gathering ofcells to push out through the follicle, to resting and anchoringthe hair to the skin, to death of the follicle and hardening theprotein coat surrounding the hair shaft. Without the jump starting signals the cells that generate hairremain dormant, but they are still there, even in men with malepattern baldness, said the researchers. Scientists have known forsome time that the follicle stem cells need to receive signals fromelsewhere in the skin for the hair generation cycle to initiate,but until this study, it was not clear which part of the skinactually sends the signals. Horsley and colleagues noticed that when hair dies, the layer offat that makes up most of the thickness of the skin on the scalpgets thinner. When hair growth begins, the layer of fat thickens:this process is called adipogenesis (literally the creation of newfat cells). By studying mice they found that adipose precursor cells, a type ofstem cell that is involved in the making of new fat cells, wereessential for hair growth to occur in the mice. Immature fat cells,in fact, appear to be "necessary and sufficient for hair follicleregeneration", they discovered, and these cells express a moleculecalled PDGF (platelet derived growth factor) to promote hairregeneration. "Functional analysis of adipocyte lineage cells in mice withdefects in adipogenesis and in transplantation experiments revealedthat intradermal adipocyte lineage cells are necessary andsufficient to drive follicular stem cell activation," write theresearchers. Horsley and colleagues are now trying to discover what othersignals the adipose precursor stem cell send that may also regulatehair growth, and whether these same signals regulate hair growth inhumans. Funds from the National Institutes of Health and the ConnecticutStem Cell Research Program helped pay for the study. Written by Catharine Paddock PhD Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Additional References Citations. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Low Frequency Massager , Tens Massager Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Tens Unit Stimulator today!
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