- Researchers say they may have figured out a way to stimulate hair growth by utilizing a tiny RNA particle.
- They report that this treatment was effective in reviving hair growth in old as well as young mice.
- Experts say more research is needed, but the process, if it proves successful in humans, could be an important advancement in treating baldness.
Scientists from Northwestern University say they’ve made a breakthrough that could potentially make a lot of men very happy.
The researchers say they may have found a potential breakthrough in baldness and hair growth.
Their study, first published in the journal PNAS, reports that human hair follicles stiffen as people get older, making hair more difficult to grow. The process is similar to how people’s joints can get stiff as they age, making it more difficult to move around.
However, the researchers say, it could be a different story if the hair follicles are softened, making it more likely they will produce hair.
Researchers say they found a way to grow hair – in mice, at least – by softening the stem cells through boosting production of a tiny RNA, miR-205, particle that relaxes the hardness of the cells.
When the scientists genetically manipulated the stem cells to produce more miR-205, they said the result was hair growth in mice both young and old.
“They started to grow hair in 10 days,” Rui Yi, PhD, a professor of pathology and dermatology at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Illinois and a senior author of the study, told SciTechDaily.
“These are not new stem cells being generated,” Yi said. “We are stimulating the existing stem cells to grow hair. A lot of times we still have stem cells, but they may not be able to generate the hair.”
Yi said the scientists have demonstrated it’s possible to stimulate hair growth by regulating cell mechanics.
“Because of the potential to deliver microRNA by nanoparticles directly into the skin, next we will test whether topically delivered…
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