Hair dye is a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide. People dye their hair for many reasons, including to cover up gray hairs. Many people use hair dye as a way to turn back the hands of time and to obtain or maintain a more youthful appearance when they start to go gray.
The color of our hair is determined by cells called melanocytes that produce pigment called melanin. There are two main types of melanin. Eumelanin creates brown or black hair; whereas, pheomelanin creates red hair. People with blonde hair usually have small amounts of eumelanin, while people with black hair have large amounts of eumelanin.
As we age, melanin production decreases and stops, causing gray or white hairs. Gray hairs are often more susceptible to damage than pigmented hairs.
Understanding the exact mechanism of graying hair may one day enable us to stop the process from occurring. Much research is being done in further understanding the graying process.
Recently, Mayumi Ito Suzuki, PhD, of New York University Grossman School of Medicine, and her team published a paper in Nature about this topic. Their research was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defence (DOD). They found that certain undifferentiated or immature cells (or stem cells) become “stuck” and lead to the development of hair gray.
What exactly happens?
In non-graying circumstances, melanocyte stem cells in the hair follicles receive signals to become mature melanocytes and to produce melanin. They move between compartments of the hair follicles and become more mature as they move from one area to the next. In each compartment, they are exposed to chemical mediators that help in the maturation process.
Dr. Ito Suzuki and her team did their research on mice. They found that as aging occurs, an increasingly larger number of the melanocyte stem cells stop the transit process, do not mature, and do not produce pigment. Their next step of research is to figure out if the cells’ motility can be restored, or if the cells can be moved into the compartment where they would produce color.
The potential applications for their research in the future would have incredible consequences for the health, beauty, and wellness industry. It will be exciting to see what our discoveries in the understanding of graying hair are next!
Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only, and is not meant to be used for diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment purposes. This is not medical advice. Please see your physician or care provider with any questions or concerns.
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