Hairy Math: Addition of Wnt-3a to Multiply Bulge Cells

The document summarizes a study by Ouji et al. (2015) which found that Wnt-3a can maintain and significantly expand epithelial skin stem cells from the bulge region of hair follicles in vitro without feeder cells. This discovery is crucial for the development of hair loss therapies, as it suggests a potential method for cultivating bulge stem cells. The study also revealed that different Wnt ligands, such as Wnt-3a and Wnt-10b, activate different gene expression profiles while both inducing β-catenin-TCF-dependent gene expression, indicating distinct functions in skin biology. The document raises questions about the specific contributions of Wnt-3a to stem cell maintenance and suggests that epigenetic mechanisms might provide answers. The importance of Wnt signals in stem cell generation and expansion is underscored, with implications for cellular therapy in treating hair loss.