A Preliminary Study of Melanogenic Markers in the Differentiation of the Human Hair Follicle Melanin Unit
December 2022
in “
The journal of investigative dermatology/Journal of investigative dermatology
”
TLDR The study found markers indicating that cells responsible for hair color are differentiating in specific areas of the hair follicle.
This preliminary study investigated the expression of melanogenic markers in different subpopulations of melanocytes within the human hair follicle (HF). Using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and western blotting on anagen bulb sections, the study found that early pigment cell markers Sox10 and c-KIT are present in melanogenically-active melanocytes of the anagen bulb region. Additionally, the master pigment cell transcription factor MITF was detected in the anagen hair bulb. Contrary to previous reports, DCT/TRP-2 expression was also observed in anagen bulb-derived protein extracts, suggesting that DCT may have multifunctional roles in stem cell activity, melanogenesis, and redox functions.
