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Updated: May 10, 2026

Rapid Genetic Analysis of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Signaling During Hair Regeneration
Published on: February 28, 2013
State-dependent signaling by Cav1.2 regulates hair follicle stem cell function
Gozde Yucel1, Banu Altindag, Natalia Gomez-Ospina
1Program in Epithelial Biology, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Abstract:
The signals regulating stem cell activation during tissue regeneration remain poorly understood. We investigated the baldness associated with mutations in the voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC) Cav1.2 underlying Timothy syndrome (TS). While hair follicle stem cells express Cav1.2, they lack detectable voltage-dependent calcium currents. Cav1.2(TS) acts in a dominant-negative manner to markedly delay anagen, while L-type channel blockers act through Cav1.2 to induce anagen and overcome the TS phenotype. Cav1.2 regulates production of the bulge-derived BMP inhibitor follistatin-like1 (Fstl1), derepressing stem cell quiescence. Our findings show how channels act in nonexcitable tissues to regulate stem cells and may lead to novel therapeutics for tissue regeneration.
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