February 2024 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study found that certain tandem repeats predict darker hair color across diverse ancestry groups and can contribute to a polygenic score for hair color, independent of SNP variation.
February 2024 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study found that tissue damage in adult mice triggers the release of mitochondrial DNA, which activates the TLR9 pathway and influences hair regeneration by recruiting gamma delta T cells, ultimately affecting healing outcomes such as fibrosis.
February 2024 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study found that Pik3r1 Y657* mice, which model human SHORT syndrome, show increased energy expenditure despite insulin resistance, but this is not due to changes in locomotion, thermoregulation, or Ucp1-dependent thermogenesis, suggesting a different metabolic mechanism may protect against lipotoxicity.
February 2024 in “medRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study aims to assess how daily life factors affect sleep patterns and describe individual sleep changes across the year, with results to be published in future research.
January 2024 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study found that genetic predictions of male pattern baldness derived from European data do not accurately predict baldness in African populations, highlighting significant continental differences in genetic architecture and evolutionary history.
January 2024 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” In this mouse study, the absence of the Ascl4 gene did not affect the development of hair follicles, teeth, or mammary glands, suggesting it is non-essential for these processes.
January 2024 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” In this study, the researchers found that deleting ceramide synthase 4 in the skin's epidermis alters stem cell differentiation, disrupting hair follicle structure and barrier function, potentially leading to immune responses similar to atopic dermatitis.
December 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study observed that extracellular matrix scaffold membranes performed less effectively in wound healing for aged mice compared to younger ones, with senescent SPP1+ macrophages potentially hindering epidermal and fibroblast repair abilities.
December 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study found that targeting connective tissue sheath contraction with an MLCK inhibitor may improve hair growth in androgenetic alopecia by reducing premature hair regression caused by ectopic apoptosis of hair follicle progenitor cells.
December 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This research examined the transcriptional landscape of quiescent melanocyte stem cells (qMcSCs) in adult female mice, revealing significant heterogeneity within this cell population and identifying novel subpopulations that vary in immune privilege regulation, melanocyte differentiation potential, and neural crest potential.
December 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” In this study, researchers used a computational drug repurposing approach to identify FDA-approved drugs Dutasteride and Solifenacin as potential inhibitors of Listeria monocytogenes via binding to the virulence factor regulator PrfA, suggesting they may offer new treatment strategies against multi-drug resistant strains.
December 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study observed that in live rodents, actin filaments adjust their structure to facilitate membrane transfer between cellular compartments; linear filaments stabilize fused membranes, while branched filaments, connected by the protein Ezrin, drive integration, demonstrating actin's role in adapting to membrane biophysical changes.
December 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study found that AP-2α and AP-2β transcription factors are crucial for maintaining adult skin homeostasis, with their inactivation in keratinocytes leading to impaired differentiation, hair abnormalities, and inflammation, highlighting their key regulatory roles.
November 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study found that mature adipocytes can dedifferentiate into fibroblast-like cells, driven by PDGF and TGFβ signaling, which may play a role in wound repair and fibrosis.
November 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study found that disrupted cholesterol homeostasis impairs hair regrowth in individuals with primary cicatricial alopecia by damaging hair follicle stem cells, highlighting the importance of cholesterol in maintaining stem cell function and hair follicle integrity.
November 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study used a novel fluorescent tagging method in mice to observe collagen IV dynamics during hair follicle development, revealing that alterations in basement membrane turnover can influence epithelial progenitor cell behavior and organ morphology by affecting cell proliferation and movement.
October 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” In this study, RNA integrity in horse hair follicles stored at various conditions in RNAlater® was maintained, showing that storing them at cool or room temperature for up to a week does not compromise RNA quality or concentration.
October 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” In this study, researchers found that while blocking either glycolysis or glutaminolysis in cancer cells did not prevent tumor growth due to metabolic flexibility, simultaneous inhibition of both pathways hindered carcinoma development, indicating multiple interventions may be necessary for effective metabolic manipulation in cancer treatment.
October 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study found that neonatal Regulatory T cells are crucial for maintaining PPARγ signaling in hair follicles, which supports melanocyte stem cell function and skin pigmentation during early postnatal development.
October 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study demonstrated that disrupting EGFR signaling in mice leads to immune sensitivity compromising the hair follicle's protective environment, but JAK1/2 inhibition can restore this immune privilege and stimulate hair growth, suggesting a potential therapy for scarring hair loss diseases like cicatricial alopecia.
October 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study constructed a comprehensive atlas of prenatal human skin, revealing that innate immune cells, such as macrophages, play a crucial role in skin morphogenesis by interacting with non-immune cells, influencing hair follicle formation and angiogenesis beyond their traditional immune functions.
September 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study found that dissolving microneedle array patches containing mesoporous silica nanoparticles can deliver antigen-loaded nanoparticles into mice effectively, inducing strong immune responses similar to traditional subcutaneous injection.
September 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study describes the use of a genetically engineered mouse model, mTurquoise2-Col4a1, to fluorescently label collagen IV and observe basement membrane dynamics during skin development, revealing its stability and pliability during rapid growth phases.
September 2023 in “medRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study found that many conditions in patients with COVID-19 were significantly increased compared to controls, with specific phenotypes identified across different demographic and diagnostic attributes.
September 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” In this study, freezing gamma-irradiated amniotic fluid increased hair follicles and accelerated the transition to the anagen stage in rats, suggesting potential for treating hair loss safely and effectively.
September 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study observed that while some progenitor cells were present in the partially bald areas of androgenic alopecia in Indian men, the completely bald areas lacked these cells, suggesting potential timing for therapeutic intervention targeting hair follicle stem cell activity.
September 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” In this study, FOL-026, a peptide based on osteopontin, was shown to promote angiogenesis and stimulate vascular cell proliferation and migration through neuropilin-1, similar to VEGF, suggesting potential therapeutic applications in vascular repair and angiogenesis-related conditions.
August 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study found that maintaining a low level of Wnt/β-catenin activity is crucial for mammary gland development, as excessive activity inhibits branching and promotes characteristics of hair follicles instead, highlighting its role in skin appendage identity decisions.
August 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study identified a novel skin site called the follicular epidermis that is prone to cancer, with unique Axin2+ stem cells regulating its homeostasis. The findings suggest current therapeutic approaches may need reconsideration due to new insights into obstruction mechanisms at this site.
August 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” In this theoretical study, the authors developed a computational model to explore whether a reaction-diffusion process could explain the signal inducing axolotl spinal cord regeneration, proposing that regeneration control depends on cell sensitivity to the signal and its diffusion characteristics.