April 2026 in “Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)” This study utilized computational approaches to screen natural compounds targeting a non-androgen pathway involving PIEZO1 and MLCK for treating androgenetic alopecia, identifying several potential candidates for further validation but making no clinical claims.
January 2026 in “Open MIND” This study identified candidate compounds from a natural-product library that may interact with the PIEZO1 and MLCK pathways, potentially countering a non-androgen cause of hair follicle miniaturization, all based on computer simulations; experimental validation is necessary.
February 2026 in “Nature Communications” This study combined spatial and single-cell transcriptomics to identify that hypercontractility of the connective tissue sheath activates PIEZO1 in hair follicles, leading to miniaturization in male androgenetic alopecia, and found that inhibiting this contraction improves hair growth in models.
December 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study found that targeting connective tissue sheath contraction with an MLCK inhibitor may improve hair growth in androgenetic alopecia by reducing premature hair regression caused by ectopic apoptosis of hair follicle progenitor cells.
April 2022 in “Journal of Investigative Dermatology” Hair shaft miniaturization leads to hair follicle stem cell loss, suggesting Piezo1 as a potential treatment target.