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Wanted, dead and alive: why a multidisciplinary approach is needed to unlock hair treatment potential

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-03, 18:35 authored by Yi Shan Lim, Duane HarlandDuane Harland, Thomas Dawson
Human recorded history is littered with attempts to improve the perceived appearance of scalp hair. Throughout history, treatments have included both biological and chemical interventions. Hair “quality” or “perceived appearance” is regulated by multiple biological intervention opportunities: adding more hairs by flipping follicles from telogen to anagen, or delaying anagen follicles transiting into catagen; altering hair “apparent amount” by modulating shaft diameter or shape; or, in principle, altering shaft physical properties changing its synthesis. By far the most common biological intervention strategy today is to increase the number of hairs, but to date this has proven difficult and has yielded minimal benefits. Chemical intervention primarily consists of active material surface deposition to improve shaft shine, fibre‐fibre interactions and strength. Real, perceptible benefits will best be achieved by combining opportunity areas across the three primary sciences: biology, chemistry and physics. Shaft biogenesis begins with biology: proliferation in the germinative matrix, then crossing “Auber's Critical Line” and ceasing proliferation to synthesize shaft components. Biogenesis then shifts to oxidative chemistry, where previously synthesized components are organized and cross‐linked into a shaft. We herein term the crossing point from biology to chemistry as “The Orwin Threshold.” Historically, hair biology and chemistry have been conducted in different fields, with biological manipulation residing in biomedical communities and hair shaft chemistry and physics within the consumer care industry, with minimal cross‐fertilization. Detailed understanding of hair shaft biogenesis should enable identification of factors necessary for optimum hair shaft production and new intervention opportunities.

History

Rights statement

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Language

  • English

Does this contain Māori information or data?

  • No

Publisher

Wiley

Journal title

Experimental Dermatology

ISSN

0906-6705

Citation

Lim, Y. S., Harland, D. P., & Dawson, T. L. (2019). Wanted, dead and alive: why a multidisciplinary approach is needed to unlock hair treatment potential. Experimental Dermatology, 28(5), 517–527. doi:10.1111/exd.13898

Contract number

A21232

Job code

151802x02

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