Stem cell research offers hope for baldness cure

Hair follicles may carry a special type of cell that has the potential to grow into various types of tissue, a finding that could lead scientists closer to a cure for baldness, according to US dermatologists.

Researchers found stem cells in mice and when they transplanted them, hair sprouted where none had been before. Careful work showed the cells were stem cells, reported George Cotsarelis of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Centre and colleagues.

The cells found in the mice could perform a few tricks, proving they were true stem cells. Not only could they give rise to hair, but to other types of skin cells.

Writing in the April issue of Nature Biotechnology, Cotsarelis said the stem cells had certain genes activated that were not activated in other hair follicle cells.

Drugs that affect these genes in people might lead to new ways of controlling hair growth, they said.

The findings may help people who want to stave off or reverse hair loss, or those who want to get rid of excess hair, they said. These cells are also important in healing wounds and the findings may offer insight into the aging process and the development of cancer.

The researchers also learned more about what causes hair loss. "We also provide unexpected evidence that the hair follicle is an immune-privileged site," they wrote. This means immune system cells do not get into the follicle.

"It has been proposed that a breakdown in immune privilege triggers an immune response leading to certain types of hair loss including common baldness and alopecia," they added.