Many men has groggily accepted that losing their full head of hair is normal as they aged and only one of the miseries of getting older. A study team in the United States thinks they have the solution thanks to the assistance of this one particular cell.
According to Metro, a particular protein known as TGF-beta may both govern and be responsible for damaging hair follicles on the head.
TGF-beta builds up chemically and causes baldness, but if it is controlled, the appropriate amounts can result in strong, healthy hair. At least, that is the theory.
Researchers published the findings of "A probabilistic Boolean model on hair follicle cell fate regulation by TGF-β" in the Biophysical Journal.
Stem Cells Could Help Solve Hair Loss, Baldness Issues
It might appear that scientists are using stem cells to fix every issue. In the case of hair, though, it seems as though the issue "stemmed" from them.
WION even compared stem cells to the blank Scrabble tiles in that they may differentiate into various cell types. Due to the cell's flexibility, they can even be employed to repair injured organs or tissue.
Each hair strand has a follicle at the base that supplies nutrients to the hair cells as they develop. Numerous stem cells may be found inside the follicle, which can easily guide carrying out certain activities.
In the human body, stem cells become active in response to damage; however, investigations have revealed that stem cells also function inside hair follicles without an injury.
In their quest to understand how this occurs, a team of scientists discovered a straightforward explanation: TGF-beta.
Study co-author and University of California Riverside mathematical biologist Qixuan Wang said in a statement, "In science fiction, when characters heal quickly from injuries, the idea is that stem cells allowed it."
"In real life, our new research gets us closer to understanding stem cell behavior so that we can control it and promote wound healing," Wang added.
Hair follicles are the only organ in humans that renew naturally and often, even without harm, unlike the stomach and liver, which may mend themselves after traumas. That is the reason Wang's team concentrated their study on them.
How TGF Beta Came Into The Picture
A little protein that functions outside the cells and is essential in cell signaling is transforming growth factor (TGF) beta. Interestingly, TGF-beta, a multifunctional cytokine belonging to the transforming growth factor superfamily, is responsible for both starting and stopping cell division within hair follicles.
The quantity of the chemical, like with other compounds in the body, determines the outcome. According to Interesting Engineering, small doses trigger cell division by TGF-beta. Overproduction causes the cells to be programmed to die.
Researchers are unsure of why the protein destroys hair follicles but leaves intact the stem cell reserve within them.
To activate follicular stem cells and promote hair development, researchers still need to figure out precisely how TGF-beta triggers cell division. This might not only aid in the treatment of baldness but also in the process of "perfect healing," in which hair starts to grow once a wound has recovered.
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