- Drugs increase production of lactate – the substance which makes muscles burn
- Tests on mice show this activates stem cells in dormant hair follicles
- Hair loss is caused by aging, genetics, hormone imbalance, stress and illness
- The medications need to be tested on humans to show they’re safe and effective
A cure for balding could be on the horizon after scientists have found a new way to make hair grow.
Increasing lactate production genetically accelerates the stem cells in dormant hair follicles to get them growing again, a study on mice showed.
Researchers believe the discovery may lead to new drugs to help people who suffer from alopecia, the medical term for hair loss.
Receding hairlines and thinning crowns can be caused by aging, genetics, hormone imbalance, stress, illness and medications. It may be temporary or permanent.
‘Before this, no one knew that increasing or decreasing the lactate would have an effect on hair follicle stem cells,’ said William Lowry, a professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Receding hairlines and thinning crowns can be caused by aging, genetics, hormone imbalance, stress, illness and medications
‘Once we saw how altering lactate production in the mice influenced hair growth, it led us to look for potential drugs that could be applied to the skin and have the same effect.’
Key findings
In the study, the researchers found that the metabolic process that takes place in hair follicle stem cells is different from that which takes place in other skin cells.
They discovered that these cells convert glucose into a molecule called pyruvate but this metabolite can take one of two paths.
In can be sent to the ‘powerhouse of a cell’ (the mitochondria) and used as energy, or the cells can convert it to a different metabolite called lactate – the same substance produced during really intense exercise that causes a burning sensation in muscles.
The researchers suspected altering the chemical course of the glucose metabolites could change the behavior of inactive follicles.
‘Our observations prompted us to examine whether genetically diminishing the entry of pyruvate into the mitochondria would force hair follicle stem cells to make more lactate, and if that would activate the cells and grow hair more quickly,’ said Dr Heather Christofk, UCLA associate professor of biological chemistry and molecular and medical pharmacology.
To test their theory, the team examined mice that had been genetically engineered to not produce lactate along with those that had been altered to increase lactate production.
Researchers believe the discovery may lead to new drugs to help people who suffer from alopecia, the medical term for hair loss
They found that blocking lactate prevented hair follicle stem cells from being activated – while increasing lactate upped the production of hair.
Drugs that work
The team identified two experimental drugs that, when applied to the skin of mice, accelerate hair growth in this way.
These are called RCGD423 and UK5099 and, while they work in different ways, both increased lactate production.
The researchers – whose work was published in the journal Nature Cell Biology – stress that these medications were used in preclinical tests only.
They have not been tested on humans or approved by the Food and Drug Administration as safe and effective.
‘Through this study, we gained a lot of interesting insight into new ways to activate stem cells,’ said Aimee Flores, a predoctoral trainee in Professor Lowry’s lab and first author of the study.
‘The idea of using drugs to stimulate hair growth through hair follicle stem cells is very promising given how many millions of people, both men and women, deal with hair loss.
‘I think we’ve only just begun to understand the critical role metabolism plays in hair growth and stem cells in general; I’m looking forward to the potential application of these new findings for hair loss and beyond.’