Gene find triggers baldness hope
Date: 18.5.2007
Hair loss in humans might not be irreversible, suggest scientists who have helped create new hair cells on the skin of mice.
It was thought hair follicles, once damaged, could never be replaced.
But a University of Pennsylvania, US, team, writing in the journal Nature, says hair growth can actually be encouraged using a single gene.
A UK expert said the study could prove more important in aiding development of better wound-healing techniques.
The human head comes equipped with 100,000 tiny hair follicles, from each of which grow a single hair.
These follicles are produced by the embryo in the first stages of pregnancy, and it was thought that no further replacement follicles could be produced during life.
The Pennsylvania team found that a particular gene important in wound healing, called wnt, appeared to play a role in the production of new hair follicles.
In its experiment, small sections of the outer skin layer, or epidermis, were removed from mice.
Just this act appeared to awaken stem cell activity in the area, the scientists said, which included the production of a number of hair follicles....
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