Mice research could provide hair loss cure
- By Susan Whitford
- Published 2nd September, 2008
- Hair News
- Unrated
Susan Whitford
Susan Whitford has twelve years experience as a health and beauty journalist in the United Kingdom. Susan has worked as a staff writer and features editor on a number of consumer magazines.
U.S. researchers have pinpointed a molecule that triggers hair follicle growth in mice. This could potentially translate into a new treatment for human hair loss.
Researchers at Stanford University explained that the molecule acts like an operator, transferring messages, or proteins, between the outer and inner layers of skin, an exchange that ultimately drives hair formation.
The study, which has been published in the issue of the Journal of Genes and Development, claims that unlike existing products that slow hair loss, the laminin-511 molecule could potentially regenerate the actual follicles that grow hair.
"Loss of hair is not going to kill anybody," said Dr. Peter Marinkovich, the study's senior author and an associate professor at Stanford University's School of Medicine. "At the same time, for some people, hair loss can be a really traumatic thing, especially for women."
Dr. Marinkovich hopes the hair loss treatment could eventually up hair growth for chemotherapy patients, as well as help patients who suffer from alopecia, a disorder that can cause hair loss in patches.
Researchers at Stanford University explained that the molecule acts like an operator, transferring messages, or proteins, between the outer and inner layers of skin, an exchange that ultimately drives hair formation.
The study, which has been published in the issue of the Journal of Genes and Development, claims that unlike existing products that slow hair loss, the laminin-511 molecule could potentially regenerate the actual follicles that grow hair.
"Loss of hair is not going to kill anybody," said Dr. Peter Marinkovich, the study's senior author and an associate professor at Stanford University's School of Medicine. "At the same time, for some people, hair loss can be a really traumatic thing, especially for women."
Dr. Marinkovich hopes the hair loss treatment could eventually up hair growth for chemotherapy patients, as well as help patients who suffer from alopecia, a disorder that can cause hair loss in patches.