Discover the Secret to Stop Gray Hair in Its Tracks!
A recent study conducted by researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine has uncovered how certain stem cells, known as melanocyte stem cells (McSCs), play a crucial role in maintaining hair color and how their behavior changes with age. The study, published in the journal Nature, focused on both mice and humans.
The researchers found that McSCs exhibit remarkable plasticity, continually transitioning between their primitive stem cell state and a more mature transit-amplifying state, depending on their location within the developing hair follicle. However, as hair ages, more McSCs become trapped in the stem cell compartment known as the hair follicle bulge. These trapped cells do not mature and fail to return to their original location, where they would regenerate into pigment-producing cells in response to WNT proteins.
The study suggests that the loss of McSC motility and reversible differentiation may be responsible for graying hair and the loss of hair color with age. This finding opens the possibility of reversing or preventing gray hair by restoring the movement of trapped McSCs between different compartments of the hair follicle.
Unlike other self-regenerating stem cells in hair follicles, McSCs can move back and forth between compartments, making them unique in their ability to maintain hair color. This research sheds light on the complex mechanisms underlying hair pigmentation and aging.
The study utilized advanced imaging and cell-tracking techniques to observe the behavior of these cells in real time. Funding for the research was provided by various grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.
The study's senior investigator, Dr. Mayumi Ito, and her team plan to explore methods for restoring McSC motility or physically relocating them to the germ compartment, where they can produce pigment.
Hair-coloring stem cells (at left, in pink) need to be in the hair germ compartment in order to be activated (at right) to develop into pigment.
IMAGE: SPRINGER-NATURE PUBLISHING
