Author Response: A Multi-Scale Model for Hair Follicles Reveals Heterogeneous Domains Driving Rapid Spatiotemporal Hair Growth Patterning
June 2017
hair follicle HF regeneration BMP pathway WNT pathway telogen phase anagen phase male pattern baldness spontaneous anagen initiation anagen wave spreading hair follicle regeneration bone morphogenetic protein pathway wingless-related integration site pathway resting phase growth phase androgenic alopecia
TLDR Understanding hair follicle interactions can help treat male pattern baldness.
The study investigated hair growth patterns in mice using whole-body hair cycle analysis and mathematical modeling, revealing that heterogeneous excitable domains in mouse skin drive rapid spatiotemporal hair growth. It found that hair regeneration rates varied across different anatomical sites, with faster regeneration in chin and ventral skin compared to dorsal skin, and slow regeneration in ear skin. The research highlighted the role of WNT/BMP signaling in modulating hair regeneration across all skin regions, challenging previous studies focused on dorsal skin. The study suggested that non-skin tissues with WNT/BMP expression could influence hair regeneration, as seen in the mouse ear, and proposed that similar regenerative features might exist in other tissues and organs. The findings opened new perspectives for understanding hair growth on a whole-body scale and implied potential systemic and local coordination in hair regeneration.
