Tackling hair loss: TGF-beta protein may prevent baldness, study reveals
27 Jul 2022 --- A protein called TGF-beta regulates the process by which cells in hair follicles, including stem cells, divide and create new cells or plan their death, ultimately resulting in the death of the entire hair follicle. This is according to US-based University of California Riverside researchers, who will use these findings to potentially end baldness and hasten wound healing processes.
“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,” says Qixuan Wang, study co-author and mathematical biologist at UC Riverside.
“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.”
Considering this, controlling when hair follicle cells divide and die depends on the TGF-beta chemical.
It may be possible to activate follicle stem cells and increase hair development if researchers can accurately pinpoint how TGF-beta triggers cell division and interacts with other crucial genes.
Understanding TGF-beta and cell death
Hair follicles are the only organ in humans that regenerates automatically and regularly, even without injury. Therefore researchers focused on them during the study.
According to researchers, people with baldness and those who are healing from wounds may benefit from this study (Credit: University of California).Since the skin of many animals, including humans, is covered in hair, ideal wound healing would necessitate the regeneration of hair follicles. Baldness, which concerns millions of people worldwide, may one day be cured by being able to control TGF-beta levels more accurately.
Most cells in the human body have fixed forms and functions established during embryonic development. A blood cell, for instance, cannot transform into a nerve cell, and vice versa. However, stem cells can turn into other types of cells. Therefore, they are helpful for healing damaged tissue or organs because of their adaptability.
The quantity, as with many chemicals, determines the outcome. Cell division is triggered by a certain level of TGF-beta produced by the cell. Apoptosis – intentional cell death– results from an excess of it.
“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 cells and develop into new follicles,” adds Wang.
According to the researchers, no one is certain why follicles self-destruct. According to some theories, it is an inherited feature from animals that shed their fur to survive the hot summer months or to attempt and blend in.
“Potentially, our work could offer something to help people suffering from various problems,” Wang notes.
Hair health: tackling hair loss
In previous hair health innovations, researchers discovered an interaction between immune cells known as regulatory T cells and skin cells that use a hormone as a messenger resulting in the production of new hair follicles and strengthening hair growth. A separate study discovered that arthritis medicine might help with successful hair regeneration after alopecia hair loss.
Meanwhile, US-based MDalgorithms unveiled MDhair, the “first” AI-based hair loss therapy. The solution utilizes AI and computer vision to pinpoint the underlying cause of hair loss and provide individualized care.
Edited by Nicole Kerr
