A cure for hair loss?

Now researchers in Orlando have come a step closer to a natural treatment after successfully growing new hair using human stem cells.

The breakthrough was achieved after coaxing stem cells to become dermal papilla cells – a special type of cell which is vital to follicle formation.

Dermal papilla cells make up the top two layers of skin and they cause surrounding cells to form hair follicles. Hair loss occurs when papillae stop working.

Scientists have previously attempted isolating healthy dermal papillae from a hair follicle, putting them into a culture to increase their number, and placing the new papillae into the skin.

The problem with this technique is that human dermal papillae lose their ability to stimulate hair growth when they are multiplied.

'In adults, dermal papilla cells cannot be readily amplified outside of the body and they quickly lose their hair-inducing properties,' said Alexey Terskikh, an associate professor at Sanford-Burnham

By using human stem cells, researchers were able to overcome the barrier, allowing hair to grow on the foot of an adult rat.

'Our stem cell method provides an unlimited source of cells from the patient for transplantation and isn't limited by the availability of existing hair follicles,' said Professor Terskikh.

'Our next step is to transplant human dermal papilla cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells back into human subjects,' he added.

In the US, more than 40 million men and 21 million women are affected by hair loss.

Worldwide, that figure comes to 1.5 billion. 

(dailymail.co.uk)