Abstract
Epithelial cells destined to form the hair fibre begin to differentiate while still in the hair follicle bulb. The fibre cells continue to differentiate as they migrate out of the bulb and up the follicle towards the skin surface. The anatomy of the hair follicle and the different cell types observed within the follicle are briefly reviewed. A theoretical scheme for cell differentiation, capable of producing all the observed mature cell types, is presented. A major component of the scheme is a reaction-diffusion system of morphogens similar to that originally proposed by Turing (1952). The mathematical solution of the equations defining the reaction-diffusion system within the follicle bulb is discussed. The sequence of patterns in the spatial distribution of the morphogens expected in the hair follicle bulb is calculated and found to be in good agreement with the sequence of patterns of orthocortical and paracortical cells in the fibre cross section as the diameter of the fibre increases. The spatial patterns of the morphogens are also compared with the shape of the fibre cross section. It is concluded that a reaction-diffusion system may play a major role in the morphogenesis of hair fibres.
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