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Stem cells have been discovered that trigger hair growth
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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Researchers at Yale University (USA) have discovered the source of signals that trigger hair growth. The discovery could lead to the development of fundamentally new treatments for baldness.
It is believed that the tendency to hair loss is inherited through the maternal line in 73–75% of cases, through the paternal line in 20%, and only 5–7% of those predisposed to baldness are the first in the family.
Men with receding hairlines still have stem cells at the base of their follicles - just not the ones that can initiate hair regeneration. Scientists knew that these follicular stem cells needed signals from the skin to trigger the growth process, but where did those signals come from?
The study identified stem cells within the fat layer of the skin and demonstrated that their molecular signals are necessary to stimulate hair growth in mice. When hair dies, the fat layer in the scalp shrinks, and when hair growth resumes, the fat layer begins to grow (a process called lipogenesis). So: stem cells involved in the creation of new fat cells (fat precursor cells) are precisely what is needed for hair regeneration in mice. It also turned out that these cells produce PDGF (platelet-derived growth factor) molecules, which are necessary to initiate the hair growth process.
If scientists can get fat cells in the skin to "talk" to dormant stem cells at the base of hair follicles, it could be a real breakthrough.
The researchers are now working to identify other signals from fat stem cells that play a role in regulating hair growth in mice, and to see if this applies to human hair.
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