Tsuji Team is Back!

[Vox]

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

Haha

Exactly. I am looking for this transformation:

before;

after.

Hair restoration and rejuvenation combined.

I agree with what was said before. Baldness is acceptable to some extend and this hurts too much the motivation to win this tough, uphill battle.

[Desmond84]

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.

Here's a little update on me and the quest to get research grants to work on a cure! Most of the academic dermatologists who are working in this field, do not have MPB on their radar. I have met 3 of them now regarding my goal to do my PhD on MPB and they seem dumb-founded and show lack of interest! Most think solving melanoma and skin cancer is far more pertinent (which is true but disappointing).

So I have started contacting researchers in the field of iPS cells and regenerative medicine and most are involved in trials with Zebrafish, Salamanders and Epigenetics! One professor does seem fascinated with the Tsuji labs paper I forwarded to her BUT she doesn't think she has the capabilities to take it further! (She didn't think it is aligned with the research direction of her lab)

Here I am really wanting to do some serious research on MPB and nobody wants to give me the light of day! Imagine if we had a lobby with some serious funding, we could have helped fund dozens of researchers to test out their theories towards an ultimate cure!

Unfortunately, the academia seem to live in a dream world! I'm a bit disappointed BUT I am still pushing for one of these academics to see the potential in curing hairloss!

Btw, has anyone done their PhD and have any tips on how to persuade them to take up my research idea?

[Desmond84]

What has surprised me over the last month is NOT one of these scientists working in the field of regenerative medicine have read the Tsuji labs "Organ Germ" method! A groundbreaking research with substantial future potential!

Is MPB research that insignificant???

[Vox]

Btw, has anyone done their PhD and have any tips on how to persuade them to take up my research idea?

I finished mine more than 15 years ago but it was in another field. I had no trouble to persuade anyone since my interests were in alignment with specific active research at that time.

I don't have any real persuasion tips, except perhaps pointing them out some depression parades in hair loss forums, just to show how devastating hair loss usually is in younger men. Also, there is the protection aspect. Without hair your head is totally exposed to the elements of the nature.

But I am afraid that again these will be considered to be just minor annoyances, with perhaps the exception of solar radiation which is potentially cancerous. The head is particularly exposed due to the angle it receives radiation (I talk about everyday life conditions, not vacation) but then I don't know what is the incidence of skin cancer occurring in bald spots. Scientists in this area need to understand and accept that hair loss should be fought back for these two reasons (psychological impact + protective role).

[Vox]

Is MPB research that insignificant???

I am afraid it is. As long as it is not directly connected to more serious health issues, this will not change easily.

On the other hand, I remember having read some studies showing a (statistical) link between the degree of baldness and heart disease. But the problem here is the nature of the link, which is only statistic. What about causality? I don't have a web link right now but you can look it up. It will give you perhaps other ideas useful in your quest.

[Vox]

... have any tips on how to persuade them to take up my research idea?

I forgot the obvious one. Whoever finds the cure will be a billionaire. Numbers with annual turnover on the existing hair loss solutions were posted here not long ago, but I don't have the time to find them now. I remember something about 10 billion dollars annual total. There is an inordinate number of men each of them spending thousands on half-baked (if not dangerous) methods. This is a huge market.

[Desmond84]

Thanks Vox for all the pointers

I think you're right! I might have to throw in some dollar values in there to highlight the potential of any breakthrough!

Well the deadline is 31st of October! If I don't get anyone too keen I really don't know what to do next!

[brunobald]

Would you be able to fund your PHD with crowd funding?

If you needed say £20,000 per year? You may be able to get 4000 people to pledge £5 each per year. Donations would be on the basis that this is research moving the cause forward and not money down on a workable solution. You could show there is a desire for this type of work in your field with a high number of pledges.

Maybe you could also work in the crowdfunding idea into your phd work, it could be a pioneering way of funding and working together on one particular goal. You could get PHD students to work together on this all over the world, all being funded from one online campain.


Desmond have you seen the Grecolab website? I know its not directly trying to solve MPB, but some of the PHD? Topics are quite intresting.

http://www.yale.edu/grecolab/People.html

[Thinning87]

that's not a bad idea

[Desmond84]

Would you be able to fund your PHD with crowd funding?

If you needed say £20,000 per year? You may be able to get 4000 people to pledge £5 each per year. Donations would be on the basis that this is research moving the cause forward and not money down on a workable solution. You could show there is a desire for this type of work in your field with a high number of pledges.

Maybe you could also work in the crowdfunding idea into your phd work, it could be a pioneering way of funding and working together on one particular goal. You could get PHD students to work together on this all over the world, all being funded from one online campain.


Desmond have you seen the Grecolab website? I know its not directly trying to solve MPB, but some of the PHD? Topics are quite intresting.

http://www.yale.edu/grecolab/People.html

That's exactly what our community needs! Governments are not providing funding and research grants are in short supply! If we are ever going to get the crowdfunding to work...it would be to use the money in this kind of early stage prelicinical studies (i.e. getting the money where its needed the most)...if the findings prove to be of value, then it will snowball into an eventual product by attracting investors and Venture capitalists anyway.

Imagine if PhD students could collaborate with Dr Cotsarelis or Jahoda using the research grant provided by our community! That's the sort of future we have to envision! Crowdfunding money is no where near enough to get a product like Histogen on the market since the costs approximate to $20-30million; whereas with just $20-30 thousand per year we can have several labs working on a cure

__________________________________________________ ___________

On a personal note, if I don't get anywhere by the end of October, I might actively engage in the crowdfunding idea! It seems like no one else cares as much as we do!

[brunobald]

Exactly, get the money to the students with talent and passion and they can use it efficiently. Throwing money at big bussiness is naive at best.

It would be great if the universitys also allowed any intellectual property to enter the public domain with no restrictions. This would mean nobody could profit or squirrel potential treatments away in their vaults. It would be truly a service for the people and their noggins.

[Desmond84]

Exactly, get the money to the students with talent and passion and they can use it efficiently. Throwing money at big bussiness is naive at best.

It would be great if the universitys also allowed any intellectual property to enter the public domain with no restrictions. This would mean nobody could profit or squirrel potential treatments away in their vaults. It would be truly a service for the people and their noggins.

Amen...hence why Asia will take over and beat the West at every turn! Time to overhaul this 2 century old system!

Btw Bruno, I have been looking into the Greco lab the last few weeks! I actually read the latest published paper by Dr Greco on hair regeneration from a few weeks ago! Its fascinating...I'm not 100% sure yet BUT I'm pretty sure Histogen under the banner RestoregeneX has just purchased a whole bunch of patents from Yale University particularly from the Greco Lab! Histogen seems to be becoming a force to be reckoned with!

[Desmond84]

Back on the Tsuji topic:

Australian CSIRO develops test to improve induced pluripotent stem cell safety

CSIRO scientists have developed a test to identify unsafe stem cells. It is the first safety test specifically for human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) – as published today in the international journal Stem Cells.

__________________________________________________ ______________

"The test we have developed allows us to easily identify unsafe iPS cells. Ensuring the safety of these cell lines is paramount and we hope this test will become a routine screen as part of developing safe and effective iPS-based cell therapies."
Dr Andrew Laslett, Research Group Leader – Stem Cells, CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering

__________________________________________________ ______________

The breakthrough is a significant step in improving the quality of iPS cells and identifying unwanted cells that can form tumours. The test also determines how stable iPS cells are when grown in the lab.

Dr Andrew Laslett and his team have spent the last five years working on the project. The research has focused on comparing different types of iPS cells with human embryonic stem cells. iPS cells are now the most commonly used pluripotent stem cell type for research.

"The test we have developed allows us to easily identify unsafe iPS cells. Ensuring the safety of these cell lines is paramount and we hope this test will become a routine screen as part of developing safe and effective iPS-based cell therapies," says Dr Laslett.

Using their test method, Dr Laslett's team has shown that certain ways of making iPS cells carry more risks. When the standard technique is used, which relies on viruses to permanently change the DNA of a cell, unwanted tumours are more likely to form. In comparison, cells made using methods which do not alter cell DNA, do not form tumours.

Dr Laslett hopes the study and the new test method will help to raise the awareness and importance of stem cell safety and lead to improvements in quality control globally.

"It is widely accepted that iPS cells made using viruses should not be used for human treatment, but they can also be used in research to understand diseases and identify new drugs. Having the assurance of safe and stable cells in all situations should be a priority," says Dr Laslett.

The test uses laser technology to identify proteins found on the surface of the cells. Based on the presence or absence of specific proteins the cells are then separated and monitored. Unsafe stem cell lines are easily identified because they form recognisable clusters of cells and the safe ones don't. This test could also be applied to assess the safety of the recently announced somatic cell nuclear transfer human embryonic stem cells.

Professor Martin Pera, Program Leader of Stem Cells Australia, said: "Although cell transplantation therapies based on iPS cells are being fast-tracked for testing in humans, there is still much debate in the scientific community over the potential hazards of this new technology."

"This important study provides a simple and powerful technique for assessing how safe stem cell lines are for use in patients," he adds.

The paper, titled 'Identification of unsafe human induced pluripotent stem cell lines using a robust surrogate assay for pluripotency' is available on the Stem Cells website.

http://www.csiro.au/~/media/CSIROau/Portals/Media%20Releases/2013/StemCellSafety/laslettStemCellSafety_video.mp4

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Another step forward towards a cure

[Arashi]

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

Thanks Desmond, indeed, I love that iPS remark

[Alf]

Hurry up guys, I want my hair back.