A new study has linked 'stuck' stem cells to hair turning grey in a discovery as researchers hope to find ways to stop the greying process from occurring.
Researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine looked at melanocyte stem cells, or McSCs, and found that when they continually multiply they can become stuck.
They believe that this is what leads to hair turning grey in humans, and avoiding this buildup may allow people to reverse or avoid the greying process.
The research, published in Nature, focused on cells in the skin of mice but McSCs can also be found in humans, according to the researchers.
They found that as hair ages, sheds, and then repeatedly grows back, increasing numbers of McSCs get stuck in a stem cell compartment called the hair follicle bulge.
The cells do not mature, and do not travel back to their original location in the germ compartment, where proteins would have caused them to regenerate into pigment cells - which creates colour.
"Our study adds to our basic understanding of how melanocyte stem cells work to color hair," said study lead investigator Qi Sun, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at NYU Langone Health.
"The newfound mechanisms raise the possibility that the same fixed-positioning of melanocyte stem cells may exist in humans.
"If so, it presents a potential pathway for reversing or preventing the graying of human hair by helping jammed cells to move again between developing hair follicle compartments."
The team is now setting out to find a way to reverse this through means of restoring motility of McSCs or of physically moving them back to their germ compartment, where they can produce pigment.
"These findings suggest that melanocyte stem cell motility and reversible differentiation are key to keeping hair healthy and colored," said study senior investigator Mayumi Ito, PhD, a professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology and the Department of Cell Biology at NYU Langone Health.
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