Fully Functional Hair Follicle Regeneration Through the Rearrangement of Stem Cells and Their Niches

April 2012 in “ Nature Communications ”

Koh-ei Toyoshima, Kyosuke Asakawa, Naoko Ishibashi, Hiroshi Toki, Miho Ogawa, Tomoko Hasegawa, Tarou Irie, Tetsuhiko Tachikawa, Akio Sato, Akira Takeda, Takashi Tsuji

hair follicle regeneration stem cells niches bioengineered hair follicles hair cycles arrector pili muscle hair regenerative therapy

TLDR Regenerated fully functional hair follicles using stem cells, with potential for hair regrowth therapy.

This study from 11 years ago successfully regenerated fully functional hair follicles through the rearrangement of stem cells and their niches. The bioengineered hair follicles had the structural properties of natural hair and underwent hair cycles similar to those of natural hair. The study also demonstrated the possibility of reconstituting the niche for arrector pili muscle development, which is essential for functional hair follicle regeneration. The authors suggest that this approach has potential for hair regenerative therapy.

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Research cited in this study

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research Microenvironmental Reprogramming of Thymic Epithelial Cells to Skin Multipotent Stem Cells

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Adult mouse skin contains stem cells that can create new hair, skin, and oil glands.

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72 citations, December 1996 in “Journal of Investigative Dermatology”

Human hair follicles can regenerate after removal, but with low success rate.

research Hair Matrix Germinative Epidermal Cells Confer Follicle-Inducing Capabilities on Dermal Sheath and High Passage Papilla Cells

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Hair growth can be stimulated by combining certain skin cells, which can rejuvenate old cells and cause them to specialize in hair follicle creation.

research Hormones and Hair Growth: Variations in Androgen Receptor Content of Dermal Papilla Cells Cultured from Human and Red Deer Hair Follicles

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Human hair growth is influenced by androgen hormones, and red deer mane follicles have similar hormone receptors.

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