April 2023 in “The journal of investigative dermatology/Journal of investigative dermatology” This study suggests that early-stage dermal papilla cell-derived exosomes may enhance adipose stem cells' hair inductive abilities through specific miRNAs.
308 citations
,
September 2010 in “Nucleic acids research” This study found that induced expression of mir-302 can reprogram human hair follicle cells into induced pluripotent stem cells through a novel epigenetic mechanism involving global demethylation.
August 2026 in “Mendeley Data” In this study, researchers explored how hair follicle neural crest stem cell-derived exosomes, particularly those carrying miR-214-3p, promote neurite outgrowth and aid peripheral nerve regeneration, supported by detailed in vitro and in vivo data on nerve repair and functional recovery in rat models.
January 2025 in “Stem Cells International” This study found that exosomes from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells reduced oxidative stress and inflammation in UVB-induced skin injury in cell and mouse models, suggesting their potential for treating UV-damaged skin by influencing Nrf2 and NF-κB pathways.
15 citations
,
November 2024 in “Journal of Advanced Research” In this study, researchers found that miR-3606-3p is significantly downregulated in skin fibrosis and correlates with disease severity, with its ability to inhibit key signaling pathways suggesting potential therapeutic applications for conditions like systemic sclerosis and keloids.
3 citations
,
December 2023 in “Aging” In liver cancer cells, this study found that upregulating hsa_circ_0002980 inhibits cell proliferation, metastasis, and EMT by modulating the miR-1303/CADM2 axis, suggesting it as a potential therapeutic target.
April 2021 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study successfully isolated inner ear-specific exosomes from perilymph samples of sensorineural hearing loss patients using a novel immunomagnetic approach, enabling groundbreaking liquid biopsy diagnostics.
April 2023 in “The journal of investigative dermatology/Journal of investigative dermatology” This study found that TLR3 activation in human keratinocytes enhances exosome biosynthesis and expression of hair follicle stem cell markers, suggesting a potential mechanism for tissue regeneration.
4 citations
,
January 2019 in “Annals of Dermatology” Higher levels of MiR-92a-1-5p and miR-328-3p found in female hair loss patients.
123 citations
,
November 2012 in “Stem cells” This study reports that miR-302 promotes pluripotency by inhibiting NR2F2 and indirectly regulating OCT4 in stem cells, enhancing reprogramming efficiency when added to traditional factors.
July 2025 in “Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell Research” In this study, researchers identified the miR-22-3p/CLIC4 signaling pathway as a key regulator in hair follicle miniaturization among androgenetic alopecia models, suggesting that targeting CLIC4-mediated sonic hedgehog pathway disruption may offer new therapeutic strategies for AGA treatment.
2 citations
,
January 2021 28 citations
,
November 2018 in “Journal of cellular physiology” This study found that miR-124 may facilitate the differentiation of hair follicle stem cells into neuronal cells by targeting Sox9 and Ptbp1.
Developing microRNA-based treatments is hard but has potential.
June 2026 in “Journal of Nanobiotechnology” This study reported that human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes may promote hair regeneration and thickness in androgenic alopecia by modulating cellular pathways in hair growth, including increasing hair density and diameter, as observed in a mouse model and an exploratory clinical trial.
54 citations
,
April 2019 in “Journal of cellular physiology” In this study, miR-218-5p was found to enhance hair shaft growth and positively regulate the Wnt signaling pathway by targeting SFRP2 during skin and hair follicle development.
16 citations
,
April 2022 in “PLoS ONE” This study identified a set of tumour-suppressive microRNAs (miRNAs), termed 'normomiRs', that are highly expressed in normal tissues but low in tumors, with miR-206 and miR-381 showing significant in vitro cancer inhibition, highlighting their potential for miRNA-replacement therapies across multiple cancer types.
January 2026 in “Biocell” This review discusses the potential of gut microbiota-derived exosomes as drug delivery systems and reports no new clinical results; the authors highlight their promise for precision medicine.
11 citations
,
March 2020 in “Cellular Signalling” In this study, knockdown of XIST in 3D-cultured dermal papilla cells inhibited hair follicle regeneration by interfering with miR-424 and hedgehog signaling, highlighting XIST's role in hair development.
August 2025 in “Skin Research and Technology” This study discusses the potential of miR-200c-3p as a genetic marker and therapeutic tool for alopecia areata, but it highlights the need for additional methodological details and addresses discrepancies with previous findings on miRNA expression in hair-related processes.
9 citations
,
June 2019 in “Cell cycle/Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex. Online)” A specific RNA increases hair stem cell growth and skin healing by affecting a protein through interaction with a microRNA.
11 citations
,
May 2023 in “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” This study found that hair follicle stem cells are stiff with high actomyosin contractility, while hair germ progenitors are soft and enlarge during quiescence, influencing hair regeneration; inducing miR-205 reduces contractility and activates regeneration in mice.
April 2025 in “OPAL (Open@LaTrobe) (La Trobe University)” This study found that exosomes derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells enhanced the growth of human hair dermal papilla cells by promoting cell cycle progression and activating PI3K and Akt-dependent pathways, indicating potential for hair loss treatment.
19 citations
,
January 2018 in “BioMed Research International” This study suggests that miRNAs, particularly miR-195-5p, may regulate the loss of hair follicle inductivity in cultured dermal papilla cells by suppressing the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.
66 citations
,
March 2016 in “Nucleic Acids Research” This study found that Musashi-2 regulates mRNA targets to restrict epithelial cell migration, revealing a key function of Msi2 beyond its known role in promoting cell growth.
4 citations
,
March 2024 in “Cells” This study found that the microRNAs oar-miR-23b and oar-miR-133 inhibit the proliferation and migration of sheep dermal fibroblasts, impacting the development of hair follicles in superfine wool sheep by targeting the genes TGFβ2 and NOTCH1.
2 citations
,
February 2022 in “Human Gene Therapy” This study found that upregulated miR-149 restricted hair follicle stem cell differentiation and hair growth by inhibiting the MAPK1/ERK2 pathway, which affects FGF2 and c-MYC expression.
6 citations
,
November 2022 in “BMC Urology” In this study, researchers found that the microRNA miR-1199-5p may reduce the expression of SRD5A2 in benign prostatic hyperplasia tissues, potentially contributing to the failure of 5-α reductase inhibitor therapy in some patients.
December 2025 in “World Journal of Stem Cells” This study identified 232 stable proteins in exosomes from human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells and suggested a signaling axis that might support future androgenetic alopecia treatments.