Can Tregs cells be cultured and injected?

Stem cell; cell based hair therapy
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@PKemp - Dr. Kemp, with the news of the discovery about the abundance of active T-regulator (Tregs) immune cells being present close to hair follicles in the telogen phase, just before anagen, and promoting hair growth – at least in the mouse – would you consider carrying out experiments using Tregs cells?

Could these cells be cultured and autologously implanted or injected into subjects’ scalps to determine their efficacy in promoting hair growth in humans?

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Hi Roger
It is a very interesting paper and I know some of the authors so its not appropriate for me to comment in detail, but in hindsight it is probably not surprising that Treg cells, which used to be known as suppressor T cells, are involved with a mini-organ that is know to be a known auto-immune target. Treg cells can be cultured and there are several studies looking at their effect in other clinical indications. We will definitely be following this work as it progresses

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It’s interesting. We know that the percentage of telogen hair follicles is much greater in those with androgenic alopecia in the area of hair loss including higher and lower in the donor area. Something influences these follicles to resume anagen. We know that high-quality PRP and platelet lysate induce anagen. Something induces a cellular response. The aforementioned is interesting basic science. However, it is challenging to translate mouse studies to humans. We all know that mice respond much better to any form of the inducement than humans do.

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Great article Roger, could Tregs be the solution for hair loss? Perhaps with a combination of other therapies. Since this info is fairly new I guess we’re still a long way off from an actual treatment.

I’m still a believer in hair multiplication, we’ve been able to grow skin, so why can’t we just take a small patch from the scalp where permanent hair grows and cultural it to create more skin with hair follicles that we can use to transplant in balding areas. To me that seems the easiest and more direct route-while we wait for stem cell therapy to mature.

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I think it’s possible Tregs could be a solution, or at least a major part of one. As Dr. Cole said elsewhere, it’s valid to try a different alternative when nothing else has really worked.

Let’s take the examples of Dr. Gho, Intercytex, and Aderans as researchers who have injected cells into people’s scalps, but HAVE NOT been successful in developing a commercial product out of this idea.

When a new cell-based discovery comes along – like Tregs and their role in hair growth – then it’s entirely valid to ask, “What if Aderans didn’t work because they should have been injecting DP cells AND Treg cells?”

Now, of course, nobody knew about the role of Treg cells in hair growth 5 years back when Aderans was still doing trials. Maybe if they had added Treg cells to the cells they were already injecting, they’d have gotten much better and more consistent hair growth. We really don’t know, but it’s definitely something worth researching now.

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I agree. BUT it may also be necessary to add epithelial cells. I hope you recall the study that showed epithelial cells + DP cells worked better than DP cells alone. I think they should try DP cells + epithelial cells + treg cells + purified ADSCs and fat tissue as in Kerastem. Why not throw in all of this stuff?

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And now I think we want to throw in something that increases lactate (see the UCLA research).

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