(Medical Xpress)—Two groups of researchers working on two different projects have made inroads into understanding the cause of alopecia—the gradual loss of hair during aging. One team, with members from Japan, the U.S. and the Netherlands, found that accumulated DNA damage was at least partly to blame—the other team, working at the University of Colorado, discovered a certain protein that appears to be responsible for causing follicle stem cells to enter their dormant cycle. Both teams have published papers in the journal Science, describing their studies and results. Mingxing Lei and Cheng-Ming Chuong with the University of Southern California offer a Perspectives piece on the work done by the two teams in the same journal issue, and more fully explain the on/off growing cycle of scalp hair in mammals.
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