New drug for hair loss

Increasing lactate production genetically increases the stem cells in dormant hair follicles to grow again.
Receding hairlines and thinning crowns can be caused by aging, genetics, hormone imbalance, stress, illness and medications. The metabolic process that takes place in hair follicle stem cells is different from that which takes place in other skin cells.

Cells convert glucose into pyruvate but this metabolite can take one of two paths; it can be sent to the mitochondria and used as energy, or the cells can convert it to a different metabolite known as lactate - the same substance produced during intense exercise that causes a burning sensation in muscles.

Changing the chemical course of the glucose metabolites could change the behavior of inactive follicles. Researchers examined mice that had been genetically engineered to not produce lactate along with those that had been altered to increase lactate production.

They discovered that blocking lactate prevented hair follicle stem cells from being activated while increasing lactate increased the production of hair. When the drugs - RCGD423 and UK5099 were applied to the skin of mice, both increased lactate production and
accelerate hair growth.
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Some moles become melanoma

Moles are growths on the skin that are usually brown or black. They can appear in groups or alone in any parts of the body. As we get older, some moles can change in colour or disappear while others may remain the same.

Moles occur when cells in the skin grow in a cluster instead of being spread throughout the skin. Melanoma is a type of skin cancer, it developed when unrepaired DNA damage skin cells.

Melanomas often resemble moles; some develop from moles. Melanomas can develop from a naevus, but most moles will never become a melanoma.

Dermatologists examined some moles and discovered some had a mutation on the gene known as BRAF, and the remaining samples had a mutation on the NRAS gene.

When either of these genes are mutated it activates the signalling pathway known as MAPK, which is commonly active in melanomas.

Additional genomic events need to occur before a mole becomes malignant. People with a high number of moles, and other risk like fair skin or light coloured hair or eyes, should continue to keep appointment with their dermatologist for regular skin examination.
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Tissues nanotransfection device

Researchers have developed a new technology called Tissue Nanotransfection TNT, it can generate any cell type for treatment within the patient's body. This technology can be used to repair injured tissue or restore function of aging tissue like organs, blood vessels and nerve cells.

Researchers reprogram skin cells to become vascular cells in injured legs that lacked blood flow. Within one week, active blood vessels appeared in the injured leg, the leg was healed at the second week.

The technology also reprogram skin cells in the live body into nerve cells that were injected into brain-injured mice to help them recover from stroke.
The device delivers new DNA or RNA into living skin cells to change their function.

This technology can convert skin cells into elements of any organ with a touch. It takes less than a second and is non-invasive. The chip does not stay permanently in the body after use and the technology keeps the cells in the body under immune surveillance.

TNT technology has two major components: nanotechnology-based chip designed to deliver cargo to adult cells in the live body and the design of specific biological cargo for cell conversion.

 This cargo converts an adult cell from one type to another. TNT doesn't require any laboratory-based procedures and may be implemented at the point of care.
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Methylene blue can prevent skin aging

Researchers reveal how a compound called methylene blue reduced signs of aging in human skin cells, it could be added to cosmetic products to combat skin aging.

Methylene blue is effective for reducing cell division, which is considered a key player in aging.

Methylene blue reduced markers of senescence in skin cells. The skin fibroblasts were derived from healthy middle-aged and older adults, as well as from individuals with progeria.

After treating the fibroblasts with methylene blue for 4 weeks, the researchers identified a decrease in reactive oxygen species, which are known to cause skin cell damage.

Treatment with methylene blue led to a reduction in markers of cellular senescence; the compound increased cell division and reduced cell death.

Researchers found that 4 weeks of treatment with methylene blue led to numerous improvements.

 These included a reduction in the expression of the genes beta-galactosidase and p16, which are markers of cellular aging.

The team found that the skin model not only retained more water when treated with methylene blue, but it also increased in thickness.

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Defective immune cells can cause hair loss

Scientists have discovered how immune cells could be used to cure hair loss.
The regulatory T-cells, known as 'Tregs', are all over human body, they control inflammation in the body.

Scientists from the University of California at San Francisco showed how Tregs in the skin send out signals that stimulate hair follicles to regenerate in mice.

 Hair follicles are recycling always, Tregs are important for this process, if this immune system is weak or dead, hair will not grow.

 A protein called KROX20 that is associated with nerve development, turned on in skin cells that become the hair shaft. The hair cells then produced a protein known as stem cell factor SCF
which is essential for hair pigmentation.

When scientists removed the SCF gene in the hair progenitor cells in mice, their hair turned white. When they removed the KROX20-producing cells, no hair grew and the mice became bald.

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