PHILADELPHIA, March 15 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have isolated stem cells that turn into hair follicles, a process that could some day be used to grow human hair.
Hair grows from cells located at the base of the hair follicle and hair loss often occurs when follicles do not continue through a natural cycle of growth, rest and re-growth.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania transplanted labeled stem cells into the skin of mice to test their hypothesis that stem cells in the follicle are responsible for hair growth.
Within four weeks, the stem cells had made cells that produced new hair.
"Now that we can isolate stem cells involved in hair growth, we can develop targets for manipulating hair growth," said lead author Dr. George Cotsarelis, director of the Penn Hair and Scalp Clinic.
He said he hopes to isolate stem cells in an adult human scalp and transplant those cells to other areas of the scalp, generating new follicles and hair growth. But he added an effective treatment using cell transplantation is at least 10 years away.
