Japanese scientists at Yokohama National University have been able to create hair follicles in vitro. In the long term, the results of their research could lead to a permanent cure for hair loss. It is estimated that around 80 million Americans suffer from some kind of hair loss. About two-thirds of men and 40% of women will be affected by hair loss during their lifetimes. Hair loss is a condition that many people often find difficult to accept.
Hair Loss
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Japanese researchers may have found a lasting solution to prevent it. In the journal Science Advances, they published the results of a laboratory experiment where they succeeded in producing hair follicles in vitro.
Organoids to better understand how hair follicles work
“In recent decades, researchers have explored the crucial mechanisms involved in hair follicle development using animal models,” they explain. But the understanding of how it works was still incomplete, and until now scientists have not been able to reproduce this mechanism in the laboratory. This team from Yokohama National University used a newly popular technique: organoid culture. This involves making miniature, simplified versions of an organ to better observe how it works. “Organoids are a promising tool for elucidating the mechanisms of follicular morphogenesis in vitro,” says Tatsuto Kageyama, assistant professor in the engineering department at Yokohama National University. Morphogenesis refers to the building of tissues and organs in an organism.
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Successful production of hair follicles in vitro
The research team made organoids from hair follicles and then developed a culture system to allow them to multiply. According to their results, this technique is almost 100% effective. “The hair follicle organoids produced fully mature hair follicles with long hair (about 3 mm long after 23 days of culture),” they say. This in vitro growth allowed the researchers to observe the different mechanisms involved in this process and understand how hair pigmentation occurs.
Future trials to develop a treatment for hair loss
In the second phase, they added a drug that stimulates melanocytes, the cells involved in hair pigmentation. This addition enabled the researchers to improve hair pigmentation significantly. They also performed organoid hair follicle transplants, which allowed efficient regeneration of hair follicles with repeated hair growth cycles. With these results, they hope to develop effective treatments for hair loss. But first, they need to conduct more tests. “Our next step will be to use cells from humans and test their use for drug development and regenerative medicine,” says Junji Fukuda, a professor at Yokohama National University’s Faculty of Engineering and co-author of the study.
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References
Reprogramming of three-dimensional microenvironments for in vitro hair follicle induction
