Bone Morphogenetic Proteins Are Critical Factors for Hair Follicle Epithelial-Mesenchymal Interactions in Androgenetic Alopecia

September 2017

María Eugenia Balañá

Bone Morphogenetic Proteins BMPs BMP-2 BMP-4 androgenetic alopecia AGA dermal papilla cells DPC androgens dihydrotestosterone DHT recombinant BMP-2 BMP

TLDR Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) are important for hair growth, and their decrease due to hormones could lead to hair loss, but adding more BMPs could promote hair growth.

The study from 6 years ago investigated the role of Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) in hair follicle interactions and their impact on androgenetic alopecia (AGA). It was found that BMPs, specifically BMP-2 and BMP-4, are crucial for maintaining key features of dermal papilla cells (DPC) and promoting hair growth. The study revealed that androgens, specifically dihydrotestosterone (DHT), significantly downregulated the expression of BMPs, leading to a decrease in hair inductivity. However, the addition of recombinant BMP-2 restored this inductivity. The study concluded that the downregulation of BMPs by androgens could contribute to the development of AGA, suggesting that BMPs could potentially be used to counteract the effects of DHT and promote hair growth.

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