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Regenerative medicine could pave the way to treating baldness

Undifferentiated human stem cells have been coaxed to develop into skin-like structures in vitro. When engrafted onto mice, the structures produce hair — highlighting the potential of the approach for regenerative therapies.
  1. Leo L. Wang

    1. Leo L. Wang is in the Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.

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  2. George Cotsarelis

    1. George Cotsarelis is in the Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.

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When hair follicles were first generated from stem cells that had been isolated from adult mouse skin1, Jay Leno — a former host of US talk show The Tonight Show — joked that scientists “cured baldness … at least in mice”. Sixteen years on, the current host will have the opportunity to mention that scientists have ‘cured’ baldness in humans, now that Lee et al.2, writing in Nature, have regenerated hair follicles from human stem cells. This achievement places us closer to generating a limitless supply of hair follicles that can be transplanted to the scalps of people who have thinning or no hair. Moreover, if the approach reaches the clinic, individuals who have wounds, scars and genetic skin diseases will have access to revolutionary treatments.

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Nature 582, 343-344 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-01568-2

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