A biochemical material blocks hair loss. Researchers find protein preventing hair re-growth. A new path of study has been opened funded by the Science Ministry.
Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A group of South Korean scientists has developed a new type of biochemical material to prevent hair loss and promote re-growth, this according to the South Korean Science Ministry.
The team led by Choi Kang-yeol of Yonsei University discovered that a protein called CXXC5 acts as negative regulator of the Wnt signalling pathway inside of a cell that is linked to follicle development and hair regeneration in adults.
In order to prevent CXXC5 acting as a negative regulator of the pathway, the team successfully developed a biochemical material called PTD-DBM.
“Disrupting the CXXC5-Dishevelled interaction with a competitor peptide activated the Wnt pathway and accelerated hair regrowth and wound-induced hair follicle neogenesis,” the researchers said in a paper. Peptides are natural biological or artificially manufactured short chains of amino acid monomers.
The research was funded by the Science Ministry, and the findings were published in the latest edition of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.