Health | Researchers have managed to grow hair on damaged skin parts.

Researchers at the New York School of Medicine have found a way to grow hair on a scar.

A team of researchers investigated the problem of regrowth of hair after an injury.

For the study, published in Nature Communications, they were interested in fibroblast cells, that is to say, the cells present in the dermis, which secrete collagen, major protein allowing the resistance of the skin and the hair.

To communicate with each other, cells use the "sonic hedgehog" protein (named after the hero of Sonic video games). This protein, and communication pathway, is very active during the early stages of human growth in the uterus, when the hair follicles – that is, the pocket in which the hair and sebum are produced – are formed. In contrast, "Sonic hedgehog" is stuck in the skin, when the latter is injured.

The researchers decided to stimulate fibroblasts through the sonic hedgehog protein. This stimulation allowed regrowth of the injured skin.

For this study the researchers used mice. Hair regrowth was observed within four weeks of skin injury, and hair root and stem structures began to appear after nine weeks.

The results of this research first make it possible to understand why hairs and hair do not usually grow back on injured skin, and in a second step to help in the research in the creation of drugs allowing the regrowth of hair or hair. .

The objective of the study is to allow people suffering from physical and aesthetic trauma due to their injury, to be able to have hair or hair on the injured area again.

The researchers also want to extend this research to allow people bald because of age to push their hair.