Nowadays, problems such as hairline shifting, baldness, and thinning hair are no longer the "patents" of middle-aged and elderly people, and they are gradually breaking through the age limit and becoming an "embarrassment" that many young people have to face.
In the face of "baldness", how can we calmly deal with and solve it? Hair follicle stem cellsis the key.
Recently, an international research team composed of Northwestern University and other institutions in the United States released an important finding in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They found that as we aged, the hair follicle stem cells gradually stiffened, a process that hindered the hair's ability to regenerate. StillThe good news is,By modulating specific molecular mechanisms to soften hair follicle stem cells, hair growth can be effectively promoted
It is well known that the self-renewal and growth of animal hair mainly depends on the periodic proliferation and differentiation of hair follicle stem cells. And this new study delves into the changes in hair follicle stem cells during activation. When hair follicle stem cells are activated, their internal cytoskeleton – the part made up of actomyosin – softens, and the cells swell and trigger a series of biochemical reactions that ultimately lead to hair regrowth
In this study, the researchers paid particular attention to a microribonucleic acid molecule called mir-205. They found that the molecule plays a key role in softening the actomyosin backbone and promoting hair regrowth. Compared to young mice, the hair follicle stem cells of older mice were more stiff and their levels of miR-205 were significantly reduced.
To validate this finding, the researchers employed genetic means that enhanced the expression of mir-205. This operation successfully revitalizes the hair follicle stem cells that were previously "sluggish". The results of the experiment showed that both young and old mice showed active hair regrowth within 14 days.
Researchers are further exploring whether the same effect could be achieved if the MIR-205 molecule was injected directly into hair follicle stem cells using nanoparticles. In addition, they are also working hard to study whether this mechanism can also be applied to humans, in order to provide a new strategy for the problem of human hair loss, let's look forward to it