Why does hair turn gray? And how do the common characteristics of aging relate to life-threatening diseases?
New research may have shown exactly how graying of hair is linked to one of the deadliest skin cancers.
Researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, led by Dr. Emi Nishimura, discovered the following. pigment-producing stem cells Hair follicles respond to stress in dramatically different ways.
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Depending on the environment, these cells may die and cause gray hair, or they may survive and multiply. cause melanomaaccording to a university press release.
The research results were published in the journal Nature Cell Biology on October 6th.
The research team used mouse models and tissue samples to study melanocyte stem cells, the cells that determine the color of hair and skin. By exposing these cells to various stresses that damage DNA, including chemicals that mimic UV exposure, they observed how the cells behaved in their natural environment.
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Some cells responded to the damage by ceasing their normal self-renewal process and turning into mature pigment cells that quickly died. This caused the hair to lose its source of color, resulting in gray hair.
But when the researchers changed the surrounding tissue to promote cell survival, the damaged stem cells started dividing again instead of shutting down. Surviving cells accumulate further genetic damage and, in some cases, behave like cancer cells.
Additional experiments showed that certain signals from the cell’s environment, including one molecule called KIT ligand that promotes cell proliferation, help the cell decide which direction to go, the release states.
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In other words, cells of the same type can either disappear harmlessly or become the seeds of melanoma, depending on the cues they receive from nearby tissues.
“This reconstructs gray hair and melanoma not as unrelated events, but as diverse outcomes of stem cell stress responses,” Nishimura said in the release.
Nishimura’s team described this process as a biological trade-off between aging and cancer, but it does not mean hair turns gray. prevent cancer.
Rather, the researchers noted, when pigment cells stop dividing and die, it is the body’s way of getting rid of damaged cells. If this process does not occur and damaged cells remain, they can turn into cancer.
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Although the study was conducted in mice, its implications could help scientists understand why and how some people develop melanoma without any obvious warning signs. natural mechanisms of aging It may actually prevent cancer.
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For now, researchers say their findings show how the balance is striking. body cell reactions And we’ll explain how small changes in that balance can mean the difference between a harmless sign of aging and a life-threatening disease.
