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Review
. 2023 Nov 3:23:100851.
doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2023.100851. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Potential application of PBM use in hair follicle organoid culture for the treatment of androgenic alopecia

Brendon Roets  1
Affiliations
Review

Potential application of PBM use in hair follicle organoid culture for the treatment of androgenic alopecia

Brendon Roets. Mater Today Bio. .

Abstract

Androgenic alopecia is a hereditary condition of pattern hair loss in genetically susceptible individuals. The condition has a significant impact on an individual's quality of life, with decreased self-esteem, body image issues and depression being the main effects. Various conventional treatment options, such as minoxidil, finasteride and herbal supplements, aim to slow down hair loss and promote hair growth. However, due to the chronic nature of the condition the financial cost of treatment for androgenic alopecia is very high and conventional treatment options are not universally effective and come with a host of side effects. Therefore, to address the limitations of current treatment options a novel regenerative treatment option is required. One promising approach is organoids, organoids are 3D cell aggregates with similar structures and functions to a target organ. Hair follicle organoids can be developed in vitro. However, the main challenges are to maintain the cell populations within the organoid in a proliferative and inductive state, as well as to promote the maturation of organoids. Photobiomodulation is a form of light therapy that stimulates endogenous chromophores. PBM has been shown to improve cell viability, proliferation, migration, differentiation and gene expression in dermal papilla cells and hair follicle stem cells. Therefore, photobiomodulation is a potential adjunct to hair follicle organoid culture to improve the proliferation and inductive capacity of cells.

Keywords: Androgenic alopecia; Hair follicle organoids; Photobiomodulation and regenerative medicine; Tissue engineering.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Conventional treatment options. AGA patients experience androgenic-dependant hair loss. Currently available treatment options include pharmacological drugs (minoxidil and finasteride), herbal alternatives (saw palmetto, rosemary and green tea), surgery (hair transplants) and non-invasive treatments (LLLT, PRP, microneedling and wigs) to slow down hair loss, promote hair growth or conceal hair loss. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Hair follicle organoids in regenerative medicine. The application of hair follicle organoids is to harvest DHT-resistant hair follicles from an AGA patient and expand the epithelial (hair follicle stem cells) and mesenchymal (dermal papilla cells) cell populations in a 3D in vitro culture. The populations self-assemble via EMIs and mature into hair follicles. The autologous, DHT resistant hair follicles are transplanted pack into the blading areas of the AGA patient.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The application of PBM in hair follicle organoid development. PBM can be used to augment the development of hair follicle organoids in vitro, by promoting cellular viability and maintenance of trichogenic activity. Furthermore, PBM stimulates migration, proliferation and differentiation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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