Scientists Use Proteins from Fetal Cells to Regrow Hair in Lab and Animal Tests

 


Hair loss is one of those problems that gets under people’s skin literally. For a lot of men (and women too), it isn’t just about vanity. It’s about the biology of their scalp working against them. The main culprit? Hair follicles that are overly sensitive to testosterone. That sensitivity messes with the dermal papilla (DP) cells, which normally help hair grow. When these cells slow down, they stop chatting properly with stem cells, and the whole growth cycle goes off track. Over time, baldness creeps in.

Now, treatments exist finasteride, minoxidil, even transplants but none of them check all the boxes. They either only tackle one piece of the puzzle, don’t last, or come with annoying side effects. Stem cell therapy looked promising, but keeping transplanted cells alive and safe is a whole other headache.

This is where things get interesting. Instead of using the cells themselves, scientists tried using what the cells secrete their “secretome.” Think of it like using the soup of proteins and factors that stem cells naturally release, without having to transplant the actual cells.

The secretome in question comes from human fetal cartilage-derived progenitor cells (hFCPC). Because fetal cells are naturally more flexible and regenerative than adult ones, the stuff they secrete (ShFCPC) is loaded with proteins that push repair and growth. Past studies had already shown ShFCPC could help heal wounds and rebuild skin that looked practically normal. So researchers wondered: if hair loss boils down to DP cells losing their edge, could ShFCPC revive them?

Turns out, yes.

When the team analyzed ShFCPC, they found nearly 900 different proteins in the mix. Many were linked to the extracellular matrix (the scaffolding that keeps tissues together) and to cell survival pathways. Proteins like fibronectin, type I collagen, and thrombospondin showed up strong these are big players in keeping cells anchored, communicating, and alive.

In lab tests, when DP cells were treated with ShFCPC, their survival and growth improved. Even when testosterone was deliberately added to push them into “hair loss mode,” ShFCPC partly reversed the damage. It boosted protective factors (like Bcl-2), dialed down destructive ones (like Bax), and switched back on markers that tell DP cells to induce hair growth things like β-catenin and LEF-1. Basically, it nudged the cells from a “shutting down” state into a “let’s get growing” one.

That’s the cell dish. What about actual hair?

The team built little hair follicle “germs” in 3D culture by combining mouse epithelial cells and human DP cells. Normally, testosterone scrambled their organization. But with ShFCPC, the two cell types re-formed neat, compact follicle structures. These mini-follicles even switched on key hair growth genes. When transplanted into mice, they grew real, normal-looking hairs thicker and more numerous than with minoxidil or other controls.

They didn’t stop there. To mimic real hair loss, rats were injected with testosterone until their hair cycles stalled. Then the researchers applied ShFCPC topically. Within 15 days, hair started sprouting back, almost as fast and full as with minoxidil. By day 25, the treated patches were nearly covered in new hair. Under the microscope, these follicles looked normal complete with sebaceous glands and the right architecture. On the molecular side, ShFCPC had cranked up β-catenin, CD34 (a stem cell marker), and CD31 (linked to blood vessel growth). More blood vessels plus more active follicles equals healthier regrowth.

So what’s the big picture?

Hair follicles thrive when dermal papilla cells are protected from apoptosis (cell death) and when β-catenin signaling is active. ShFCPC manages to do both. Its mix of extracellular proteins and growth factors tweaks the follicle’s local environment, turning a “balding atmosphere” back into a regenerative one.

Here’s the the interesting part: this isn’t cell therapy, it’s cell-free. No worries about transplanted cells dying off or forming tumors. Instead, you get a protein-rich cocktail that mimics the benefits of stem cells without the baggage.

Of course, there’s still the ethical elephant in the room these secretomes come from fetal tissue. But compared to adult stem cells, fetal cells produce larger, more reliable batches. If researchers can navigate the sourcing concerns, ShFCPC could realistically make its way into clinics as a next-gen treatment for hair loss.

Bottom line: instead of just patching up hair loss with band-aid solutions like minoxidil, ShFCPC offers a way to reset the system at its roots literally.

Link To Study

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