An Important Role of Cutaneous Lymphatic Vessels in Coordinating and Promoting Anagen Hair Follicle Growth

The study from July 25, 2019, found that cutaneous lymphatic vessels (LVs) are crucial for hair follicle (HF) growth in mice. LVs were observed to be closely associated with the HF bulge area, forming a network around individual HFs. The research showed that mice with genetically increased LV density had a prolonged anagen phase, while mice lacking LVs entered the catagen phase more quickly. Intradermal injections of VEGF-C in mice promoted hair growth, and conditioned media from lymphatic endothelial cells enhanced the growth of human dermal papilla cells. The study suggests that LVs and VEGF-C are important for coordinating and promoting anagen HF growth, presenting potential new targets for hair loss therapies. The number of mice used in the experiments varied, with some experiments involving 24 wild-type, 10 K14-VEGF-C transgenic, and 8 K14-sVEGFR3 transgenic mice, and other parts of the study involving groups of 4 to 9 mice.