The PPAR-γ Modulator, N-Acetyl-GED, Protects From Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Human Hair Follicles: Potential Relevance for Scarring Alopecia
October 2017
in “
The journal of investigative dermatology/Journal of investigative dermatology
”
TLDR N-acetyl-GED may help prevent and partially reverse a process that leads to scarring hair loss.
The study investigated the potential of N-acetyl-GED (AGED), a PPAR-γ modulator, to protect or rescue human hair follicle epithelial stem cells (HFeSCs) from epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT), a process implicated in scarring alopecia. Using ex vivo experiments on full-length healthy human scalp hair follicles, AGED was administered at concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, and 1mM before or after EMT induction. Results showed that AGED significantly prevented the down-regulation of E-cadherin and the up-regulation of vimentin+ or SLUG+ cells, markers of EMT, in the hair follicle bulge. AGED also partially rescued hair follicles from EMT by decreasing the number of vimentin+ or SLUG+ cells. These findings suggested that AGED could be beneficial in preventing or partially reversing EMT in hair follicles, indicating its potential as a therapeutic option for scarring alopecias like lichen planopilaris (LPP). Further investigations on organ-cultured biopsies from LPP patients were ongoing to explore AGED's therapeutic potential.
