In Vitro Hair Growth-Promoting Effect of Lgr5-Binding Octapeptide in Human Primary Hair Cells

The research investigated a synthetic octapeptide's effect on hair growth, finding it binds to the Lgr5 receptor, enhancing Wnt/β-catenin signaling, a crucial pathway for hair growth. The octapeptide increased cell proliferation by up to 30% and induced the expression of hair growth-stimulating factors in human hair follicle dermal papilla cells (HHFDPCs), leading to increased gene expressions of up to 5.6-fold. It also activated other human hair cells, increasing their proliferation by up to 44%, and increased the proliferation of human hair follicle stem cells (HHFSCs) by up to 2.3-fold. The octapeptide showed restorative effects on the suppressed differentiation of HHFSCs in DHT-treated conditions. The study concludes that the octapeptide has potential for promoting hair growth and suppressing androgenic hair retardation. Future in vivo studies will investigate whether the octapeptide can promote hair regeneration by inducing anagen phase entry while inhibiting the anagen-catagen transition.