Cure for baldness a step closer

By STEVE CONNOR

Scientists have discovered the key steps needed to trigger hair growth, and their work might soon produce genuine cures for baldness and unwanted body hair.

The research has uncovered the cascade of chemical signals necessary to turn an unspecialised stem cell in the skin into a specialised hair follicle, said Professor Elaine Fuchs, who led the team from Rockefeller University in New York.

"These studies raise the possibility that drugs to activate these natural factors could promote hair follicle growth in wanted places, and inhibitory drugs could prevent hair growth in unwanted places," Professor Fuchs said.

Her previous work showed how it was possible to increase the number of hair follicles on the skin of laboratory mice by boosting the production of a chemical signal called beta-catenin.

Unfortunately, this proliferation of hair follices also raised the risk of skin cancer. The latest research, published in the journal Nature, could address the problem because it has identified two other chemical signals that regulate the production of beta-catenin.

"Unlike the earlier experiments, in which we genetically altered the animals, in these experiments we have altered the stem cells using external factors that the skin normally makes," Professor Fuchs said.

"And in doing so, we have been able to elicit the initial responses that occur in the development of the hair follicles."

Two proteins change the stem cell's shape so that it can separate from adjoining cells and move down into the deeper layers of the skin, where it can form a small indentation that becomes a hair follice.

"Skin turns over every two weeks, so there is an enormous reservoir of stem cells there ... we are trying to answer the question of whether we can coax some skin stem cells to become hair."

Hair growth

Scientists have discovered the chemical signal which triggers hair growth

They hope it could lead to drugs to combat both baldness and unwanted body hair

Researchers believe they can eliminate a previously identified risk of skin cancer

- INDEPENDENT