Key points from article :
Autophagy, the process of recycling intracellular junk, influences hair follicle stem cells (HFSC) and the hair growth cycle.
The study, published in Cell & Bioscience, found that rapamycin, a drug that boosts autophagy, improved hair growth in mice and human hair organ cultures.
HFSCs, located in the bulge zone of hair follicles, play a crucial role in the hair growth cycle, transitioning from quiescent to activated states.
In mouse experiments, researchers from Southern Medical University observed that rapamycin treatment expedited the telogen-anagen transition, leading to increased hair growth, while inhibiting autophagy delayed this transition.
Results were mirrored in human hair organ cultures, with rapamycin promoting hair shaft growth and maintaining follicles in the anagen phase.
The findings suggest that autophagy modulation could be a potential therapeutic approach for hair growth disorders like alopecia areata.
