Hair follicles provide source of nerve stem cells

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Stem cells found in hair follicles can develop into nerve cells and might be useful in medical treatment, U.S.-based researchers reported on Monday.

They found that stem cells taken from the follicles of mouse whiskers matured into neurons and other neural cells known as astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, as well as into skin cells, smooth muscle cells, and pigment-producing cells called melanocytes.

The finding, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers another potential source of the master cells, which scientists hope may provide source of tissue and organs for transplantation.

The well-known source of stem cells is bone marrow, but researchers hope to find more easily accessible sites and want to experiment to see if different sources of stem cells may offer cells with different qualities.

Stem cells are the body’s master cells. So-called adult stem cells are found throughout the body. Another source of stem cells is embryos.

Robert Hoffman at San Diego-based AntiCancer Inc., and colleagues at the University of California San Diego and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said it may some day be possible to take a person’s own stem cells from hair follicles and grow tissue for transplantation.

In September a team at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and The Rockefeller University in New York found stem cells from hair follicles that grew hair, skin and sweat glands.

In March, a team at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center found stem cells in mice that sprouted hair when transplanted.

Researchers hope that transplanting stem cells could provide treatment for a range of diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, in which brain cells are destroyed; Diabetes - Type 1, in which insulin-producing cells die; and spinal cord injuries.

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