Hair Regeneration by Small Molecules That Activate Autophagy

    April 2018 in “ bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) ”
    Min Chai, Meisheng Jiang, Laurent Vergnes, Xudong Fu, Stéphanie C. de Barros, Jing Jiao, Harvey R. Herschman, Gay M. Crooks, Karen Reue, Jing Huang
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    TLDR Certain small molecules can help regrow hair by turning on the body's cell cleanup process.
    In the 2018 study, researchers found that hair regeneration can be stimulated by small molecules that activate autophagy. Specifically, they identified that the longevity metabolites α-ketoglutarate and α-ketobutyrate, as well as the prescription drugs rapamycin and metformin, which affect TOR and AMPK signaling pathways, can be used to promote hair growth. This discovery is significant as it offers potential new treatments for hair loss or alopecia, a condition that impacts millions of people globally due to various causes such as aging, hormonal dysfunction, autoimmunity, or as a side effect of cancer treatment. The study suggests that activating autophagy could be a viable method for hair regrowth.
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