a signaling molecule from dermal papilla cells that activated hair growth in mice; not tested in people and not an approved treatment
- How does SCUBE3 work on hair follicles compared to treatments like minoxidil or finasteride? Laboratory research in mice reports that SCUBE3, a protein released by dermal papilla cells, signals dormant follicles to grow through the TGF-β pathway downstream of Hedgehog; minoxidil and finasteride instead work on blood flow to the follicle and on DHT, and unlike SCUBE3 they have decades of human trial data behind them. SCUBE3 has not been tested in human clinical trials and is not available as a medicine.
extract, clone, and reinsert your own hair cells
Cell-derived vesicles sold by some clinics for hair loss. Experimental, not FDA-approved, with little human evidence.
Experimental Wnt/β-catenin activator; regrew hair and formed new follicles in mice (Ryu et al. 2021, PMID 33751552); never tested in humans and not approved anywhere.
- Does sh-Polypeptide-7 stimulate hair follicles or reduce scalp inflammation? sh-Polypeptide-7 is the INCI name for a lab-made form of human growth hormone (somatotropin) — not EGF, which is sh-Oligopeptide-1. Growth hormone and IGF-1 signalling is documented in hair follicle biology, but there is no published human trial of sh-Polypeptide-7 applied to the scalp for hair growth or scalp inflammation.