PLoS Genet: hair follicle stem cells have the potential to repair damaged neurons in mice

April 30, 2019 / Biovalley BIOON / - Thomas hornyak of the University of Maryland School of medicine and colleagues in a new study recently published in PLoS Genetics show that a group of special hair follicle stem cells may regenerate the coating that isolates the neurons of mice This study provides a new direction for the search for the treatment of some neurodegenerative diseases Because of the pigment produced by melanocytes, hair and skin show different colors of red, brown, black and yellow Melanocytes in embryo originate from neural crest cells, which can also produce neurons and their supporting glial cells Before that, hornyak and his colleagues discovered two different stem cell sacs that produce melanocytes in mature hair follicles Photo source: PLoS genet, in their current study, found that they could identify and isolate these two groups of melanocyte stem cells based on whether they were coated with a glycoprotein called CD34 CD34 is a surface molecule found in other types of stem cells, including blood stem cells The researchers isolated two groups of melanocyte stem cells from mouse hair follicles and cultured them in a dish They were surprised to find that the cells carrying CD34 turned into glial cells In the nervous system, glial cells cover neurons with a layer of fat insulation called myelin, which can speed up the transmission of nerve impulses In addition, the researchers also found that CD34 positive stem cells can regenerate myelin sheath on neurons in cultured cells and mice with genetic defects that cannot form myelin sheath This new discovery shows that the pouch of CD34 positive melanocyte stem cells in hair follicles retains some early functions If there are similar groups in human hair follicles, they may be used to develop new therapies for nerve injury and demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis Dr Thomas hornyak said: "in the future, we plan to continue the research in this field to determine whether these cells can promote the functional recovery of neurons after injury, and use the whole genome information described in our current research to identify similar cells in human skin." Reference: Joshi SS, tandukar B, pan L, Huang JM, livak F, Smith BJ, et al (2019) CD34 definitions melanicite stem cell subpopulations with distinct regulatory properties PLoS gene 15 (4): e1008034 Doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008034