Liposomal Packaging Generates Wnt Protein with In Vivo Biological Activity

    August 2008 in “ PLOS ONE ”
    Nathan T. Morrell, Philipp Leucht, Ludan Zhao, Jae-Beom Kim, Derk ten Berge, Karthikeyan Ponnusamy, Antoine L. Carre, Henryk Dudek, Marie Zachlederova, Michael McElhaney, Shirley A. Brunton, Janet L. Gunzner, Marinella Callow, Paul Polakis, Mike Costa, Xiaoyan M. Zhang, Jill A. Helms, Roel Nusse
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    TLDR Wnt3a protein, when packed in liposomal vesicles, can stimulate hair growth and could potentially treat conditions like hair loss.
    The 2008 study "Liposomal Packaging Generates Wnt Protein with In Vivo Biological Activity" demonstrated that Wnt3a protein, when packaged into liposomal vesicles, retained its biological activity and could be delivered to cellular receptors in vivo. This led to the activation of Wnt signaling pathways, which stimulated hair follicle growth and cycling. This suggested potential applications in treating conditions like alopecia. However, the study did not specify the number of subjects involved. The researchers also found that Wnt antagonists, which were effective against purified protein, were ineffective against Wnt secreted from cells and liposomal Wnt, indicating that liposomal packaging mimics the method by which Wnts are normally secreted from cells.
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