CDK4/6 Inhibition Mitigates Stem Cell Damage in a Novel Model for Taxane-Induced Alopecia

September 2019 in “ EMBO Molecular Medicine ”

Talveen S. Purba, Kayumba Ng’andu, Lars Brunken, Eleanor Smart, Ellen Sullivan Mitchell, N. M. K. Nik Hassan, Aaron O’Brien, Charlotte E. L. Mellor, Jennifer Jackson, Asim Shahmalak, Ralf Paus

CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib taxanes paclitaxel docetaxel chemotherapy-induced alopecia hair matrix keratinocytes stem/progenitor cells G1 arrest mitotic defects apoptosis Ibrance

TLDR CDK4/6 inhibitors can protect hair cells from chemotherapy damage.

The study investigated the effects of taxanes, specifically paclitaxel and docetaxel, on human scalp hair follicles using an ex vivo organ culture model. It found that these drugs caused significant mitotic defects and apoptosis in hair matrix keratinocytes and stem/progenitor cells, contributing to severe and permanent chemotherapy-induced alopecia. The research demonstrated that the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib could protect these cells from paclitaxel-induced damage by inducing G1 arrest, without causing additional hair follicle damage. This highlighted the importance of protecting epithelial stem/progenitor cells during taxane-based chemotherapy and provided preclinical evidence that G1 arrest therapy could mitigate taxane-induced tissue damage.

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