Abstract
Hair loss affects men and women of all ages. Dermal papilla (DP) plays a crucial role in regulating the growth and cycling of hair follicles. Lactoferrin (LF) exhibits a wide range of biological functions, including antimicrobial activity and growth regulation. However, its effect on DP and its role in hair growth remain unknown. In this study, we found that bovine LF (bLF) promoted the proliferation of DP cells and enhanced the phosphorylation of Erk and Akt. The bLF-mediated proliferation was significantly blocked by the Erk phosphorylation inhibitor PD98059 or the Akt phosphorylation inhibitor LY294002. Moreover, biotin-labeled bLF could bind to DP cells, and the binding was independent of lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1, a known LF receptor. Importantly, bLF stimulated hair growth in both young and aged mice. Moreover, we also found that bLF significantly induced the expression of Wnt signaling-related proteins, including Wnt3a, Wnt7a, Lef1, and β-catenin. The bLF-mediated DP cell proliferation could be significantly reversed by the Wnt pathway inhibitor XAV939. Our findings suggest that bLF promotes hair growth in mice and stimulates proliferation of DP cells through Erk/Akt and Wnt signaling pathways. This study highlights a great potential of the use of bLF in developing drugs to treat hair loss.
Highlights
Hair loss is not a lethal disease, it affects social and psychologic well-being
The results showed that 50 μg/mL of bovine LF (bLF) significantly increased the growth rate of Dermal papilla (DP) cells since day 3 (Fig. 1a), and the effect of different concentrations of bLF on DP cells at day 5 is shown (Fig. 1b)
These findings suggest that bLF increases DP cell proliferation
Summary
Hair loss is not a lethal disease, it affects social and psychologic well-being. According to the previous study [32], androgenic alopecia (AGA) affects about 80% of Caucasian men and increases with age. Female pattern hair loss is estimated to occur in 32% of women in the ninth decade of life. Minoxidil and finasteride are the only two AGA treatments approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Many new treatments have been introduced in recent years [36]. The effects of these treatments are not well characterized. The results vary or present with unpredictable side effects. Most of them are trying to convert hair follicles from the telogen to anagen phase
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