The control of hair growth
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 9, 2026

Targeted Expression of GFP in the Hair Follicle Using Ex Vivo Viral Transduction
Published on: March 17, 2008
1Center for Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology, Clinical Hospital Centre, Kragujevac, Serbia, Yugoslavia.
Abstract:
The hair follicle is one of a few human tissues containing stem cells. The stem cells are interspersed within the basal layer of the outer root sheath and in an area called the bulge. From this reservoir stem cells migrate to hair matrix and start to divide and differentiate. Their behavior is controlled by numerous cytokines produced by cells of the dermal papilla. Dermal papilla cells and some cells of the inner and outer sheaths of the follicle from androgen-dependent hairs have androgen receptors in their cytoplasm and nucleus. Androgens indirectly control hair growth by influencing the synthesis and release of cytokines from the dermal papilla cells. Drugs affecting hair growth belong to one of the following groups: cytotoxic drugs, antiandrogens and drugs acting on potassium channels. Further development of drugs selective for certain steps in the process of hair growth will enable more successful therapy of hair growth disorders.
Related Concept Videos
Multipotency and Niche of Bulge Stem Cell
Accessory Structures of the Skin: Hair and Hair Follicles
Hair is a keratinous filament growing out of the epidermis. It is primarily made of dead, keratinized cells. Hair strands originate at the epidermal penetration called the hair follicle. The hair shaft is the part...
Accessory Structures of the Skin: Hair Growth and Types
Hormones and Bone Tissue
Hormones That Influence Osteoblasts and/or Maintain the Matrix
Several hormones are necessary for controlling bone growth and maintaining the bone matrix. The pituitary gland secretes growth hormone (GH), which, as its name implies, controls bone growth. This happens in several ways: first, it triggers chondrocyte...
Hormones of the Pituitary Gland
The most abundantly secreted hormone from the anterior lobe is the growth hormone, which controls overall growth by...
Hormonal Control of the Ovarian Cycle
Before puberty, the hypothalamus releases GnRH in a low frequency, low amplitude pulsatile manner. This along with the immature hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis activity, results in low estrogen levels and the absence of a fully functional ovarian cycle. At puberty, GnRH secretion increases in both frequency and...

