California, USA (CU)_ The scientists from the University of California have identified the protein that regulates the life and death of hair follicles. The latest study gave researchers a deeper look at how stem cells, which may adapt to various cells, heal damaged tissue or organs.
According to a media statement from Qixuan Wang, UC Riverside mathematical biologist and the co-author of the research, “In science fiction when characters heal quickly from injuries, the idea is that stem cells allowed it. In real life, our new research gets us closer to understanding stem cell behavior, so that we can control it and promote wound healing”.
The protein known as TGF-beta governs the division and formation of new cells in hair follicles and also dies on its own, resulting in the death of the entire hair follicle. Wang said, “TGF-beta has two opposite roles. It helps activate some hair follicle cells to produce new life, and later, it helps orchestrate apoptosis, the process of cell death”.
However, researchers are unsure as to why follicles self-destruct. Some say it is similar to how animals lose their fur in order to endure the summer heat or how some reptiles conceal it. Wang said, “Even when a hair follicle kills itself, it never kills its stem cell reservoir. When the surviving stem cells receive the signal to regenerate, they divide, make new cell and develop into a new follicle”. According to Wang, the finding of TGF-beta may possibly one day lead to studies on baldness treatments. Wang said, “Potentially our work could offer something to help people suffering from a variety of problems”.
