The Glypican-1/HGF/C-Met and Glypican-1/VEGF/VEGFR2 Ternary Complexes Regulate Hair Follicle Angiogenesis

This study investigated the role of glypicans, specifically glypican-1 (GPC1), in the regulation of angiogenesis in human hair follicles, which is a process involved in hair renewal and affected in alopecia. The researchers found that GPC1 is the primary glypican expressed in various human hair follicle cells and that it is crucial for the angiogenesis of human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMEC). Keratinocytes from the outer root sheath (KORS) were shown to secrete vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), which stimulate HDMEC angiogenesis. This angiogenesis was halted when GPC1 was silenced in HDMEC, and GPC1 was also found to interact with VEGFR2 and c-Met receptors to regulate angiogenesis. These findings suggest that GPC1 plays a significant role in hair follicle microvascularization and could be a potential target for treating alopecia.