TR3 Is Preferentially Expressed by Bulge Epithelial Stem Cells in Human Hair Follicles

January 2016 in “ Laboratory Investigation ”

Lin Xie, Ruifeng Yang, Shujing Liu, Stephen Lyle, George Cotsarelis, Leihong Xiang, Litao Zhang, Bin Li, Miaojian Wan, Xiaowei Xu

TLDR TR3 is mainly found in hair follicle stem cells and may be involved in hair loss.

The study investigated the expression of TR3, a transcription factor, in human hair follicles and its potential role in androgenetic alopecia (AGA). Researchers found that TR3 is highly expressed in the bulge region of hair follicles, which contains epithelial stem cells marked by K15. TR3 expression was notably higher during the telogen phase compared to the anagen phase. The study also showed that treatment with dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and testosterone (T) reduced keratinocyte growth and increased TR3 expression, with DHT treatment also affecting the expression of apoptosis-related genes BAD and Bcl-2. Knocking down TR3 expression counteracted the inhibitory effect of DHT on keratinocyte proliferation. These findings suggest that TR3 is localized to the stem cell compartment of hair follicles and may mediate the effects of androgens on keratinocytes, which could be relevant to the development of AGA. The study utilized cDNA expression assays, immunohistochemical staining, quantitative real-time PCR, and cell viability assays, but the number of participants or samples was not mentioned.

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