Mechanism That Controls Activation Of Stem Cells During Hair
Regeneration Identified
ScienceDaily (Jan. 16, 2008) — Researchers at the University of
Southern California (USC) have identified a novel cyclic signaling in
the dermis that coordinates stem cell activity and regulates
regeneration in large populations of hairs in animal models. The
signaling switch involves bone morphogenetic protein (Bmp) pathway,
according to the study that will be published in the Jan. 17 issue of
the journal Nature.
"Conceptually, the findings have important implications for stem cell
research and in understanding how stem cell activity is regulated
during regeneration,
investigator and professor of pathology at the Keck School of
Medicine of USC. "The research presents a new dimension for the
regulation of hair re-growth and ultimately organ regeneration.
The hair is an important model for organ regeneration in mammals
because it is one of the few organs that regenerate regularly, Chuong
notes. Recent work in the field has established hair cycling as one
of the mainstream models for organ regeneration. However, most of
these works focus on the cyclic regeneration of one single hair
follicle, he says.
"Each of us has thousands of hair follicles. In our study, we were
motivated to analyze the coordinative behavior of cyclic regeneration
in a population of organs," Chuong says.
The research team found that hairs, even in normal mice, regenerate
in waves, rather than individually. The findings suggest that hair
stem cells are regulated not only by the micro-environment within one
hair follicle -- as has previously been thought -- but also by
adjacent hair follicles, other skin compartments and systemic
hormones, in a hierarchical order.
At the molecular level, the findings showed that periodic expression
of Bmp in the skin macro-environment appears to be at the center of
the mechanism for coordinated hair stem cell activation. When many
hairs regenerate, they must communicate activation signals among
themselves. At different time points the macro-environment can be
either permissive or suppressive for stem cell activation.
"Our research shows that the formation of new tissues or organs from
stem cells -- such as the formation of new hairs -- can be more
robust if it occurs in a permissive macro-environment,
Plikus, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow and the first author of the
study. "I hope that our research will draw more attention to the hair
follicle as the model for physiological regeneration in mammals, and
as an abundant source of adult stem cells for the purposes of stem
cell therapy."
"The work also has critical implications for research using the mouse
skin as a model for tumor growth or drug delivery," Chuong
notes. "Many of these studies assume the mouse skin is a homogeneous
and stable environment for testing, but variations in results were
obtained. Understanding this unexpected dynamics of the living mouse
skin will help their experimental designs."
The study was funded by National Institutes of Arthritis,
Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institute of Aging, the
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the Research
Councils U.K.
Maksim V. Plikus, Julie Ann Mayer, Damon de La Cruz, Ruth E. Baker,
Philip K. Maini, Robert Maxson and Cheng-Ming Chuong. "Cyclic dermal
BMP signaling regulates stem cell activation during hair
regeneration,
Adapted from materials provided by University of Southern California,
via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of
the following formats:
APA
MLA University of Southern California (2008, January 16). Mechanism
That Controls Activation Of Stem Cells During Hair Regeneration
Identified. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from
http://www.scienced
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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