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Activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling is involved in hair growth-promoting effect of 655-nm red light and LED in in vitro culture model

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Abstract

Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays an important role in hair follicle morphogenesis and hair growth. Recently, low-level laser therapy (LLLT) was evaluated for stimulating hair growth in numerous clinical studies, in which 655-nm red light was found to be most effective and practical for stimulating hair growth. We evaluated whether 655-nm red light + light-emitting diode (LED) could promote human hair growth by activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling. An in vitro culture of human hair follicles (HFs) was irradiated with different intensities of 655-nm red light + LED, 21 h7 (an inhibitor of β-catenin), or both. Immunofluorescence staining was performed to assess the expression of β-catenin, GSK3β, p-GSK3β, and Lef1 in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling. The 655-nm red light + LED not only enhanced hair shaft elongation, but also reduced catagen transition in human hair follicle organ culture, with the greatest effectiveness observed at 5 min (0.839 J/cm2). Additionally, 655-nm red light + LED enhanced the expression of β-catenin, p-GSK3β, and Lef1, signaling molecules of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, in the hair matrix. Activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling is involved in hair growth-promoting effect of 655-nm red light and LED in vitro and therefore may serve as an alternative therapeutic option for alopecia.

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Abbreviations

LLLT:

Low-level laser therapy

HF:

Hair follicle

LED:

Light-emitting diode

MK:

Matrix keratinocyte

GSK3β:

Glycogen synthase kinase-3β

p-GSK3β:

Phospho-GSK3β

Lef1:

Lymphoid enhancer factor 1

DPC:

Dermal papilla cell

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

TCF/LEF:

T cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor

AGA:

Androgenetic alopecia

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Acknowledgements

This work was performed in Department of Dermatology, the 3rd Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81271769). We would like to thank Shi Rundong, Wang Jing and Ruan Ruolin for their technical and spiritual support.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81271769). The role of the funding source was to provide the experimental materials.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, 510630, China

    Le Han, Ben Liu, Xianyan Chen, Haiyan Chen, Wenjia Deng & Miaojian Wan

  2. State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, No. 381 Wushan Road, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Changsheng Yang

  3. Department of Hair Transplantation, Yuexiu Plastic Surgery Hospital, No.133 Guangzhou Road, Guangzhou, 510601, China

    Bin Ji

Authors
  1. Le Han
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  2. Ben Liu
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  3. Xianyan Chen
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  4. Haiyan Chen
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  5. Wenjia Deng
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  6. Changsheng Yang
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  7. Bin Ji
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  8. Miaojian Wan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miaojian Wan.

Ethics declarations

Study protocols were approved by the Institutional Research Ethics Committee, Sun Yat-sen University (No. [2015]2-174), and written informed consent was obtained from all subjects. All experimental procedures using human tissues were performed according to the principles described in the Declaration of Helsinki.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Han, L., Liu, B., Chen, X. et al. Activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling is involved in hair growth-promoting effect of 655-nm red light and LED in in vitro culture model. Lasers Med Sci 33, 637–645 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-018-2455-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-018-2455-3

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