Mar. 15, 2004. 07:41 AM
A bald step toward a cure?
Stem cell implants spur hair growth
Hope sprouts from mouse experiment
PAUL ELIAS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO - Research showing that bald mice can grow hair after being implanted with a type of stem cell could lead to a cure for baldness, a group of scientists says.
"Blank slate" stem cells were able to induce hair growth during the project, said Dr. George Cotsarelis, a University of Pennsylvania dermatologist and co-author of the study.
It was released yesterday on the Web site of the journal Nature Technology in advance of its April publication date.
"We've shown for the first time these cells have the ability to generate hair, when taken from one animal and put into another,'' Cotsarelis said in a telephone interview.
"You can envision a process of isolating existing stem cells and re-implanting them in the areas where guys are bald,'' Cotsarelis said.
The study confirms what scientists have suspected for years: that hair follicles contain "blank slate" stem cells which give most humans a full head of hair for life.
The "blank slates" are called stem cells but differ from embryonic stem cells.
Use of the latter for medical research has sparked political debate because human embryos are destroyed in the process.
Biologists who study hair because of its regenerative qualities said the new study is an important breakthrough but they cautioned that a baldness cure is still some years away.
"Like with any stem cells, the amount of information needed to get us from a stem to a fully developed organ is a lot," said Stanford University biologist Anthony Oro.
"It will require a lot of things to go right and we are still a long way off.''
Two drugs now on the market, known commercially as Rogaine and Propecia, were designed initially to treat those with hypertension and enlarged prostates.
Later, they were discovered to have hair growth as a side effect.
Each drug rings up about $100 million (U.S.) in sales annually.
It is estimated that people in the United States spend more than $1 billion each year in combating baldness, mostly through hair transplants.
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