Hair Growth
Healthy hair is often seen as a symbol of beauty, vitality and often associated with good overall health, as hair loss or breakage can sometimes be a sign of underlying health issues. It can boost self-esteem and confidence, making individuals feel more attractive and appealing. Naturally, effective products can be very succesful in a lucrative, growing cosmetic industry targeting to boost hair health. Our work can provide claim substantiation data for our clients, immediately differentiating their products from the rest.
Ex vivo hair follicle culture
Our hair follicle (HF) culture model provides a physiologically relevant platform to test cosmetic compounds, and to assess their efficacy of hair growth-promoting or hair loss-preventing properties, as well as, to evaluate the potential for adverse effects on hair follicles.
Parameters to evaluate
In addition to custom-designed histological, genetic, or biochemical protocols for our clients needs, we test our controled experiments for the following read-outs:
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Histological evaluation of the tissue structure and cellular features
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Macroscopic (light microscopy), and microscopic hair cycle staging (Ki-67 immuno-staining)
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Hair shaft elongation measurements
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Cellular markers
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Growth factors regulating hair cycle
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Cellular senescence and apoptosis
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Extracellular matrix proteins of the baesment membrane (Laminin-5, alpha-6-integrin.. Collagen-4...etc)