If you’ve ever been concerned about hair loss in the past, this could be your lucky day. A new experiment carried out by Michael Rosenblum, assistant professor of dermatology at the University of California has proved just how useful regulatory T cells (tregs) are when it comes to hair loss. Previously scientists were led to believe that these cells’ single task was to inform other cells when to attack. However, what Rosenblum discovered when he shaved the mouse he was experimenting on, he noticed that the hair never grew back.
From the study, Rosenblum and team discovered that tregs in the skin had high levels of Jagged 1 (Jag1) which has the duty of calling in the stem cells through a process called ‘Notch signaling.’ Removing the tregs reduced the notch signaling and when Jag1 was added the stem cells were called which then activated the process of follicle regeneration.
This study will be of particular interest to one type of hair loss sufferer: those with alopecia areata. This is an autoimmune disease that impedes hair follicle regeneration and affects as many as 1.7 percents of the U.S. population. Until now, very little has been known about what causes hair loss, but this research will give doctors and scientists everywhere new direction and a potential cure.
As well as hair regeneration, this process could be used to correct other skin related problems such as wound repair. “What we found here is that stem cells, and immune cells have to work together to make regeneration possible,” says Rosenblum. So don’t despair if you’re losing your hair, help is on the way!
The regulatory T cells, formerly known as suppressor T cells, are a subpopulation of T cells which modulate the immune system, maintain tolerance to self-antigens, and prevent autoimmune disease. Tregs are immunosuppressive and generally, suppressor downregulates induction and proliferation of effector T cells. Wikipedia
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