Epidermal Growth Factor as a Biologic Switch in Hair Growth Cycle
TLDR EGF controls hair growth by regulating hair follicles' growth phases.
The study demonstrated that continuous expression of epidermal growth factor (EGF) in hair follicles of transgenic mice arrested follicular development at the final stage of morphogenesis, indicating that EGF signaling through EGFR/ErbB2 heterodimers was crucial for initiating hair growth. Topical inhibitors of EGFR and ErbB2 completely inhibited new hair growth in wild-type but not in transgenic mice. Crossing transgenic mice with waved-2 mice, which have lower EGFR kinase activity, rescued the hair phenotype. These findings suggested that EGF acted as a biological switch, regulating the entry and exit of hair follicles into the anagen phase, thus preventing the transition to the catagen phase.
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