Unlocking the Mechanism of Hair Stem Cell Regeneration and Regrowth
Elaine Fuchs, head of the Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development at Rockefeller University, is researching how stem cells in hair follicles are able to regenerate — research that may one day lead to the promised land of stem cell cloning techniques for hair loss. “Throughout our lifetime, each hair follicle undergoes cyclical bouts of growth, destruction and rest through an intrinsic stem cell population,” Dr. Fuchs told Science Daily recently. “It provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the molecular process of tissue regeneration and stem cell self-renewal.”
For a new round of hair growth to begin, stem cells in the hair follicle must receive a signal to divide. In response to this signal, the hair follicle regenerates first by growing downward through the skin’s middle layer, the dermis, and then producing the specialized cells that form the hair. After a period during which the hair grows longer, stem cells stop dividing, and the hair follicle gradually retracts again. There is then a period of rest and the cycle repeats.
Fuchs and her team have for several years been exploring the infrequently dividing stem cells located near the base of the hair follicle in a compartment known as the bulge. This time they focused on a much smaller cluster of often-ignored cells called the hair germ, located at the very bottom of this structure. Although little is known about the hair germ, scientists postulate that it emerges from the bulge at the end of the destructive phase of the hair cycle.
In their work, to be highlighted in the February 6 issue of Cell Stem Cell, Fuchs and her team scrutinized the hair cycle through the resting phase and discovered that during most of this time, both the bulge and the hair germ remain dormant. By isolating cells from both the hair germ and the bulge, they also confirmed that the two are molecularly very similar, suggesting that the germ does indeed originate from the bulge. The researchers believe, however, that toward the end of the resting phase, the hair germ gets activated to proliferate before the bulge. Moreover, the team showed that the activating signal comes from a structure known as the dermal papilla.
The Pioneering Hair Growth and Hair Treatment Technology of Dr. Gho
Anyone concerned with hair growth, hair cloning, alopecia, hair treatment and so on is probably familiar with the controversial work of Dr. Coen Gho, a Dutch medical doctor and dermatologist who has been a pioneer in efforts to develop practical hair regrowth treatments for male pattern baldness and alopecia.
Dr. Gho’s research has been followed closely by numerous experts in the field of hair transplantation and rejuvenation. He has been criticized, however, for not submitting his research to the rigorous scrutiny of peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Throughout the 1990s, Dr. Gho developed specialized techniques of hair follicle extraction and transplantion. The GHO Clinic was established in 1994 with offices at various places around the world, with head offices in Prague. In 2005, Dr. Gho resigned from the GHO Clinic and launched a new venture, The Hair Science Institute (HSI), located at the World Trade Center in Amsterdam.
According to HSI’s own website, the technology that Dr. Gho has developed — which he terms “HairStemcell Transplantation” (HST) — differs from other types of hair restoration techniques in that it does not redistribute existing hair but “ensures that your own hair generates new hairs in a desired area.”
One of the transplantation techniques Dr. Gho developed - the Follicular Multiplication – was established as a restorative method to treat burn wounds. In the clinical facilities of Hair Science Institute, this method has alleged been improved and is now refined to the advanced and patented technique that is now known as HairStemcell Transplantation. Read more
