Fibroblast Growth Factors Stimulate Hair Growth through β-Catenin and Shh Expression in C57BL/6 Mice

• Published in: BioMed research international Vol. 2015; no. 2015; pp. 1 - 9
• Main Authors: Huang, Yan, Fu, Xiao-Bing, Guo, Ding-Jiong, Li, Xiao-kun, Wang, Xiao-Jie, Xiao, Jian, Lin, Bei-Bei, Lin, Zhen-Lang, Cai, Ping-tao, Jiang, Li-ping, Zhang, Jian, Shi, Hong-Xue, Xiang, Li-Jun, Lin, Wei-hong, Zhang, Hai-Lin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2015
• Subjects: Animals; beta Catenin - biosynthesis; Fibroblast Growth Factors - metabolism; Fibroblast Growth Factors - pharmacology; Fibroblasts - cytology; Fibroblasts - metabolism; Gene Expression Regulation - drug effects; Gene Expression Regulation - physiology; Hair Follicle - growth & development; Hedgehog Proteins - biosynthesis; Mice
• ISSN: 2314-6133; 2314-6141
• DOI: 10.1155/2015/730139

Growth factors are involved in the regulation of hair morphogenesis and cycle hair growth. The present study sought to investigate the hair growth promoting activities of three approved growth factor drugs, fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF-10), acidic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-1), and basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2), and the mechanism of action. We observed that FGFs promoted hair growth by inducing the anagen phase in telogenic C57BL/6 mice. Specifically, the histomorphometric analysis data indicates that topical application of FGFs induced an earlier anagen phase and prolonged the mature anagen phase, in contrast to the control group. Moreover, the immunohistochemical analysis reveals earlier induction of β-catenin and Sonic hedgehog (Shh) in hair follicles of the FGFs-treated group. These results suggest that FGFs promote hair growth by inducing the anagen phase in resting hair follicles and might be a potential hair growth-promoting agent.