Two proteins are responsible for gray hair and baldness

The cause of baldness and the appearance of gray hair has been revealed

Yulia Vorobyova, Vesti

The fight against signs of aging is one of the main topics for both scientists and the beauty industry. Covering up the traces of age-related changes, many resort to skin rejuvenation creams and hair dyes, diets and sports. However, scientists believe that it is more important to find the cause of changes in the body than to try to hide them.

In the course of the new work, experts from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have discovered the mechanism that underlies baldness and the appearance of gray hair. These problems are of concern to many today, and therefore attract the attention of researchers. So, recently, geneticists said that men "inherit" baldness from their mothers. It has also been suggested that the cause of pathological hair loss may be cells that have confused their functions.

Curiously, the new study initially set itself other tasks. "Despite the fact that this project was started in order to understand how certain types of tumors are formed, we found out why hair turns gray, and also discovered the "identity" of cells that are directly related to the appearance (and, accordingly, loss – ed.) of hair," said the co–author of the work Lu Le (Lu Le).

The team studied a genetic disease predisposing to the appearance of tumors – neurofibromatosis of the first type. In particular, they drew attention to the protein KROX20, which is associated with the development of nerves. It turned out that the same protein is directly related to hair growth.

Let's explain that the skin stem cells contained in the bulge at the bottom of the hair follicles are involved in hair growth. The composition of these cells includes the protein KROX20. It, in turn, causes cells to produce another protein known as Stem cell factor (SCF). These peptide information molecules are responsible for hair pigmentation.

When scientists removed the cells producing KROX20 during experiments with mice, the animals became bald – their fur simply stopped growing. When the team removed the SCF molecules, in the presence of KROX20, the rodents' hair continued to grow, but became completely gray.

Since the human body has many biological similarities with the mouse, it is logical to assume that the same is true for our hair. The researchers intend to confirm this theory with tests with people.

According to the authors, the results of the work may lead in the future to the creation of new ways to treat baldness and prevent the occurrence of gray hair. Perhaps they will be able to develop a way to deliver the necessary molecules to the hair follicles to fix "cosmetic problems," Le concludes in a press release from UT Southwestern Scientists find skin cells at the root of balding, gray hair.

The study may also provide answers about why we age at all, since gray hair and hair loss are among the first signs of aging.

A scientific article based on the results of the study was published in the publication Genes & Development (Liao et al., Identification of hair shaft progenitors that create a niche for hair pigmentation).

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  12.05.2017