Melanocyte Stem Cell Maintenance and Hair Graying

April 2005 in “Cell”

Eirı́kur Steingrı́msson, Neal G. Copeland, Nancy A. Jenkins

TLDR Hair graying happens because certain cells aren't maintained properly.

Two recent papers from 2005 provided compelling evidence that hair graying was due to incomplete melanocyte stem cell maintenance. They identified Pax3 and Mitf as key molecules that regulated the balance between melanocyte stem cell maintenance and differentiation, shedding light on the underlying causes of hair graying as a sign of human aging.

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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15820674
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2005.03.021

Cited in this study

research Melanocyte Subpopulation Turnover During the Human Hair Cycle: An Immunohistochemical Study

86 citations , August 2000 in “Pigment cell research”

Melanocyte activity in hair follicles is linked to the hair growth cycle, being active in growth phases and inactive in rest phases.