BACKGROUND Caffeine reportedly counteracts the suppression of hair shaft production by testosterone in organ-cultured male human hair follicles (HFs). OBJECTIVES We aimed to investigate the impact of caffeine (i) on additional key hair growth parameters, (ii) on major hair growth regulatory factors and (iii) on male vs. female HFs in the presence of testosterone. METHODS Microdissected male...

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) and parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) influence hair follicles through paracrine and intracrine routes. There is significant evidence that PTH and PTHrP influence the proliferation and differentiation of hair follicle cells. The PTH/PTHrP receptor signalling plays an important role in the hair follicle cycle and may induce premature catagen-telogen transition...

The dermal papilla is a discrete group of cells at the base of the hair follicle and is implicated in controlling the hair growth cycle. Early passage dermal papilla cells can induce hair growth in vivo, but, upon further culturing, this property is lost. In order to study the events occurring in hair induction, a representative dermal papilla cell line was required. We have transfected passage...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the possible stimulating mechanism of Huoxue Bushen Mixture (HXBSM), a traditional Chinese compound medicine, on hair growth of mice via measuring the variance of skin blood vessel neogenesis and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in the hair follicle. METHODS Hot rosin and paraffin mixture depilation were used to induce C57BL/6 mice hair follicle to...

Postembryonic development of plants is dependent on both intrinsic genetic programs and environmental factors. The plasticity of root hair patterning in response to environmental signals was investigated in the Columbia-0 wild type and 19 Arabidopsis mutants carrying lesions in various parts of the root hair developmental pathway by withholding phosphate or iron (Fe) from the nutrient medium. I...

BACKGROUND Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) shares a high degree of structural and functional homology with insulin and is a potent mitogen supporting cell growth and survival in many kinds of the tissues and cells. It also plays a role in some differentiation and anti-apoptotic functions. In previous reports, it has been shown that IGF-I stimulates hair follicle (HF) growth, maintains the ...

Recent studies strongly suggest that the cannabinoid system is a key player in cell growth control. Since the organ-culture of human hair follicles (HF) offers an excellent, clinically relevant model for complex tissue interaction systems, we have asked whether the cannabinoid system plays a role in hair growth control. Here, we show that human scalp HF, intriguingly, are both targets and sourc...

Hair growth is a highly regulated cyclical process. Immunosuppressive immunophilin ligands such as cyclosporin A (CsA) and FK506 are known as potent hair growth modulatory agents in rodents and humans that induce active hair growth and inhibit hair follicle regression. The immunosuppressive effectiveness of these drugs has been generally attributed to inhibition of T cell activation through wel...

The effect on hair growth of wounding the lower region of whisker follicles, and in particular the dermal papilla, with sharply pointed tungsten needles was studied in adult hooded rats. Following injury hair growth ceased, but was subsequently resumed. While it might have been anticipated that follicle wounding would have a negative effect on whisker length, regular postoperative length measur...