Tsuji Team is Back!

[Desmond84]

Just out of curiosity (and wanting to get back on track), what about the people that have DUPA (diffused unpatterend alopecia)? Will they be eligible for a cure given that ALL their hair is miniaturizing?

That all depends on how will Tsuji lab expand their stem cells in culture. If they figure out a way to use your own hair bulge stem cells and DP cells, then it may be a bit tricky. I suppose, we have a test that shows whether extracted hair follicles have androgen receptors or not...so using this as a marker, they can use the follicles that do not show androgen receptors as the stem cell pool for in-vitro expansion.

If they manage to use iPS cells however, that is a whole different ball game...they will implant these newly engineered follicles and only time will tell whether they are androgen sensitive or not!

[Desmond84]

Washenik: Future Horizons in Hair Restoration

Btw guys, Dr Washenik (of Aderans Research Institute) just published a paper titled:

"Future Horizons in Hair Restoration"

In it, he talks about current technological shortcomings and recent breakthroughs that will change the face of hair restoration! Here's some quotes from the paper that are very interesting and should cheer everyone up:

"The hair reconstitution assays mentioned (Aderans technology) works very well with mouse cells; however, it has been a long-time challenge to regenerate human hair follicles in vivo."

He then goes on to say some of the recent breakthroughs have changed everything!

"Recently, a big breakthrough was made by Li and colleagues, who created human follicles from cultured dermal and epidermal cells in a nu/nu mouse model. In their initial work, TSC2 null fibroblasts were combined with foreskin keratinocytes in a skin construct model. Once a nascent epidermal basal layer was formed in vitro, the skin construct was grafted on the back of a nu/nu mouse. The continued development of the skin resulted in the formation of hair follicles and sebaceous glands. This work represents the first published account of the formation of human hair from cultured cells."

"In a separate system, Higgins and colleagues reported the formation of human hair using DP cells cultured as spheroids and combined with the epidermis of an excised human foreskin in a sandwich assay. For the first time, cultured human cells were used to form a completely human hair follicle. The expansion of these techniques provides a potentially unlimited supply of hair for the treatment of alopecia."

"Recently, Toyoshima and colleagues (Tsuji Lab) created a bioengineered hair follicle germ using embryonic skin-derived epithelium and mesenchymal donor cells. The transplanted germ integrated with the host epithelium, producing a fully functional hair follicle demonstrating connection to the host nerves as well as to the piloerection ability. They further demonstrated that through the use of a guide, the interaction between these donor cells and the host epithelium was independent of placement depth. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that cells delivered in the appropriate package are able to integrate with the host tissue to produce a hair follicle. This technique would provide the clinician the ability to control the pattern, density, and orientation of the follicles resulting from this cell-based therapy."

He then goes on to talk about alternative sources of Stem cells (Arashi you're gonna love this lol):

"A revolutionary breakthrough in the field of cell biology was the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The work by Takahashi and colleagues described the ability of 4 transcription factors (SOX2, OCT4, c-MYC, and KLF-4) to reprogram differentiated fibroblasts into an embryonic stem cell state. From these cells, the creation of every lineage is possible."

"Bilousova and colleagues have exploited this process to produce a multipotent keratinocyte lineage from mouse iPSCs. Retinoic acid, BMP4, and a collagen IV substrate were used to push the fate of the iPSCs to a keratinocyte lineage. The keratinocytes produced by this method demonstrated the ability to form skin and all of its appendages including the hair follicle. Itoh and colleagues42 used similar methods to generate human keratinocytes from iPSCs and produced 3-dimensional skin equivalents.
In this human model, appendages were not produced, but the foundation of reprogramming iPSCs into keratinocytes was established. iPSCs represent an unlimited supply of cells for each patient. The potential will be unlocked as research groups develop methods to differentiate iPSCs into follicular progenitor cells."

He ends his paper with the following which is very positive

"Recent developments in the field of regenerative medicine indicate that a cell-based solution for alopecia is coming soon. Multiple groups have produced human hair follicles using cultured cells in a mouse model. Strategies are being developed to expand and maintain trichogenic cells in culture. iPS cells provide an additional strategy to obtain follicular progenitor cells. The challenge is to exploit these methods and determine the most efficient and efficacious method of culture, expansion, and delivery of follicular progenitor cells."

"A major hurdle to a cell-based solution to alopecia is the development of a clinically relevant model of the human scalp. Currently there is no laboratory model that allows for the investigation of the delivery of cells into the human scalp and the mode of action in a cell-based therapy. Without a model, it is difficult to determine the appropriate method of delivery, cell types, and cell ratios to achieve therapeutic efficacy."

The future is bright indeed

[TO YOUNG TO RETIRE]

desmond what will tsuji do once we have cell based therapy available earlier?

when do you estimate for these cell based injections to be available to us?

-john

[Desmond84]

desmond what will tsuji do once we have cell based therapy available earlier?

when do you estimate for these cell based injections to be available to us?

-john

Hey John

As far as cell-based therapies go, the only group that is ahead of Tsuji is Replicel. I guess, we can answer your question better when we have Replicel's Phase 2b efficacy results in 2016.

Replicel is hopefully looking at 2017 in Asia and 2019 in US/Europe!

Tsuji is somewhere around 2022-2023 (fingers crossed).

We can then line up at Google with our NW1 hairline to get our shots to halt ageing! LOL

[TO YOUNG TO RETIRE]

i am 24 so i am going to be 30 with high density nw1 trying to find ways to remain 30 with you people..




AWESOME

[crafter]

Btw guys, Dr Washenik (of Aderans Research Institute) just published a paper titled:

"Future Horizons in Hair Restoration"

In it, he talks about current technological shortcomings and recent breakthroughs that will change the face of hair restoration! Here's some quotes from the paper that are very interesting and should cheer everyone up:

"The hair reconstitution assays mentioned (Aderans technology) works very well with mouse cells; however, it has been a long-time challenge to regenerate human hair follicles in vivo."

He then goes on to say some of the recent breakthroughs have changed everything!

"Recently, a big breakthrough was made by Li and colleagues, who created human follicles from cultured dermal and epidermal cells in a nu/nu mouse model. In their initial work, TSC2 null fibroblasts were combined with foreskin keratinocytes in a skin construct model. Once a nascent epidermal basal layer was formed in vitro, the skin construct was grafted on the back of a nu/nu mouse. The continued development of the skin resulted in the formation of hair follicles and sebaceous glands. This work represents the first published account of the formation of human hair from cultured cells."

"In a separate system, Higgins and colleagues reported the formation of human hair using DP cells cultured as spheroids and combined with the epidermis of an excised human foreskin in a sandwich assay. For the first time, cultured human cells were used to form a completely human hair follicle. The expansion of these techniques provides a potentially unlimited supply of hair for the treatment of alopecia."

"Recently, Toyoshima and colleagues (Tsuji Lab) created a bioengineered hair follicle germ using embryonic skin-derived epithelium and mesenchymal donor cells. The transplanted germ integrated with the host epithelium, producing a fully functional hair follicle demonstrating connection to the host nerves as well as to the piloerection ability. They further demonstrated that through the use of a guide, the interaction between these donor cells and the host epithelium was independent of placement depth. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that cells delivered in the appropriate package are able to integrate with the host tissue to produce a hair follicle. This technique would provide the clinician the ability to control the pattern, density, and orientation of the follicles resulting from this cell-based therapy."

He then goes on to talk about alternative sources of Stem cells (Arashi you're gonna love this lol):

"A revolutionary breakthrough in the field of cell biology was the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The work by Takahashi and colleagues described the ability of 4 transcription factors (SOX2, OCT4, c-MYC, and KLF-4) to reprogram differentiated fibroblasts into an embryonic stem cell state. From these cells, the creation of every lineage is possible."

"Bilousova and colleagues have exploited this process to produce a multipotent keratinocyte lineage from mouse iPSCs. Retinoic acid, BMP4, and a collagen IV substrate were used to push the fate of the iPSCs to a keratinocyte lineage. The keratinocytes produced by this method demonstrated the ability to form skin and all of its appendages including the hair follicle. Itoh and colleagues42 used similar methods to generate human keratinocytes from iPSCs and produced 3-dimensional skin equivalents.
In this human model, appendages were not produced, but the foundation of reprogramming iPSCs into keratinocytes was established. iPSCs represent an unlimited supply of cells for each patient. The potential will be unlocked as research groups develop methods to differentiate iPSCs into follicular progenitor cells."

He ends his paper with the following which is very positive

"Recent developments in the field of regenerative medicine indicate that a cell-based solution for alopecia is coming soon. Multiple groups have produced human hair follicles using cultured cells in a mouse model. Strategies are being developed to expand and maintain trichogenic cells in culture. iPS cells provide an additional strategy to obtain follicular progenitor cells. The challenge is to exploit these methods and determine the most efficient and efficacious method of culture, expansion, and delivery of follicular progenitor cells."

"A major hurdle to a cell-based solution to alopecia is the development of a clinically relevant model of the human scalp. Currently there is no laboratory model that allows for the investigation of the delivery of cells into the human scalp and the mode of action in a cell-based therapy. Without a model, it is difficult to determine the appropriate method of delivery, cell types, and cell ratios to achieve therapeutic efficacy."

The future is bright indeed

"coming soon" in scientist terms means 5 to 10 years or 10 to 20 years. Scientist just cured alzheimers in mice but say its 10 years from first human trials.

[Conpecia]

The future is bright indeed

Yes, and distant.

[crafter]

Hey John

As far as cell-based therapies go, the only group that is ahead of Tsuji is Replicel. I guess, we can answer your question better when we have Replicel's Phase 2b efficacy results in 2016.

Replicel is hopefully looking at 2017 in Asia and 2019 in US/Europe!

Tsuji is somewhere around 2022-2023 (fingers crossed).

We can then line up at Google with our NW1 hairline to get our shots to halt ageing! LOL

i think these are optimistic predictions. Replicel phase 2 resulkts were poor, so i'll be surprised if they make it to market. I think Histogen results were better. Im quite interested in Allergan and Bimatoprost. That could be on the market in 4 years.

[cichlidfort]

This technique would provide the clinician the ability to control the pattern, density, and orientation of the follicles resulting from this cell-based therapy."

So a man that previously had overall thin hair that ended up going bald in theory could make his hair as thick and have the hair pattern in any style he wanted based off that technique? How exciting!

[Vox]

i am 24 so i am going to be 30
...
AWESOME

And I am going to be a 300 years old nosferatu. All this takes soooooo long ...

[moore]

So a man that previously had overall thin hair that ended up going bald in theory could make his hair as thick and have the hair pattern in any style he wanted based off that technique? How exciting!

In my opinion that's the final goal. Hair where you want it, as much as you want it.

And I am going to be a 300 years old nosferatu. All this takes soooooo long ...

I feel the same way. But, agree with me, if we don't push as a potential consumer community, nothing good will come.

@Desmond you rock

[ar50]

[QUOTE=moore;152602]In my opinion that's the final goal. Hair where you want it, as much as you want it.



I feel the same way. But, agree with me, if we don't push as a potential consumer community, nothing good will come.

Hey man. Nice post but what do you think are the possibilities to push as a group?
What could we do?
Because I live in the Netherlands and all the time when i am outside, or at school or work etc etc. i see bald men. And they talk a lot about the money they would earn with bald men in the US: but the dont count the europeans and the asians.
My dermatologist told me about the ammount of clients who come flying from the arab countries for him.

The thing is: how can we unite and show how much we are worth?

I like this forum a lot i learned more about alopecia then any other site.
But there has got to be more for us? how can we form?
Cant we create some kind of Bald Brotherhood with a branch in each country ?

I am thinking a lot about this idea and the reasen why i think a lot is that i have the idea that a lot of non balding people and scientists don't take alopecia serious.

[Javert]

And I am going to be a 300 years old nosferatu. All this takes soooooo long ...

Haha

[moore]

Hey man. Nice post but what do you think are the possibilities to push as a group?
What could we do?
Because I live in the Netherlands and all the time when i am outside, or at school or work etc etc. i see bald men. And they talk a lot about the money they (the industry, I suppose) would earn with bald men in the US: but they don't count the europeans and the asians.
My dermatologist told me about the amount of clients who come flying from the arab countries for him.

The thing is: how can we unite and show how much we are worth?

I like this forum a lot, I learned more about alopecia here than in any other site.
But there has got to be more for us? how can we form?
Can't we create some kind of Bald Brotherhood with a branch in each country ?

I am thinking a lot about this idea and the reason why I think a lot is that I have the idea that a lot of non-balding people and scientists don't take alopecia seriously.

Hey @ar50,
I think as a group, just for expressing our ideas here, we are already stating our willingness to pay for a real, effective cure which would benefit the overall quality of our lives and the way we feel inside our bodies, how we accept aging and appearance changes.
Baldness SHOULD, and MUST become one of the avoidable ones.
Somebody proposed a crowdfunding in another thread. Could be a good idea but I politely doubt that money without a plan would work. Maybe we could have a way to provide support and possibly money through official and well known channels.

Baldness not only is not taken seriously, in some medical research I read:
- some doctors address it as a "dimorphism", which it actually is, implying that is acceptable
- the psychological discomfort is downplayed: if you do not accept baldness you are a psycho
- many young patients say to their dermatologist things like "I'd rather have a tumor than be bald" and they are frowned upon.

While I would admit the last one is quite strong, I would not underestimate such a frustration.

[ar50]

Hey @ar50,
I think as a group, just for expressing our ideas here, we are already stating our willingness to pay for a real, effective cure which would benefit the overall quality of our lives and the way we feel inside our bodies, how we accept aging and appearance changes.
Baldness SHOULD, and MUST become one of the avoidable ones.
Somebody proposed a crowdfunding in another thread. Could be a good idea but I politely doubt that money without a plan would work. Maybe we could have a way to provide support and possibly money through official and well known channels.

Baldness not only is not taken seriously, in some medical research I read:
- some doctors address it as a "dimorphism", which it actually is, implying that is acceptable
- the psychological discomfort is downplayed: if you do not accept baldness you are a psycho
- many young patients say to their dermatologist things like "I'd rather have a tumor than be bald" and they are frowned upon.

While I would admit the last one is quite strong, I would not underestimate such a frustration.

Hmm i think you are right. It would have beem a cool thing if we had some kind of a lobbyst group hhaha.
But i know what you are saying about baldness. I am one of the guys who asked for a tumor instead of getting bald because in most times, you can get rid of the tumor but we cant get rid of baldness.
I really hope that the tsuji lab geta lucky and their research geta some kind of a boost.