Posted on 17-3-2004

Hair stem cell find brings hope of refurbishing bald patches

David Adam, science correspondent

A US research team has discovered stem cells that can regenerate hair growth, raising the hope that new treatments for baldness could be as little as five years away.
When the cells are transplanted into skin they spontaneously grow into hair follicles which produce hair. The research was conducted in mice, but the scientists say it takes us one step closer to finding cures for hair loss in people.

"I think this or something like it will be available in the next five to 10 years," said George Cotsarelis, a dermatologist at the University of Pennsylvania school of medicine who led the research.

The stem cells are found in existing hair follicles. "We could isolate the cells from hairs remaining on the back of your scalp, grow them in culture and then reconstitute new hair follicles," Prof Cotsarelis said.

Although stem cells potentially capable of turning into numerous types of tissue have already been isolated from human skin, those believed to form hair follicles have proved more elusive. No one has yet extracted hair follicle stem cells from the human scalp: a vital stage if treatments using them are to follow.

"We've confirmed that similar genetic markers in the mouse are in the same place in the human, so that's the first step," Prof Cotsarelis said.

His team used cell labelling techniques to isolate the mice cells and prove they can develop into all the mature cell types of the hair follicle. It then mixed the stem cells with others taken from the surrounding skin and transplanted them into other mice, triggering new follicle and hair growth.

The researchers report their findings today in the online version of the journal Nature Biotechnology.