Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Video Abstracts
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • Sex Differences in Medicine (Sep 2024)
    • Vascular Malformations (Apr 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Video Abstracts
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Dissecting the bulge in hair regeneration
Peggy Myung, Mayumi Ito
Peggy Myung, Mayumi Ito
Published February 1, 2012
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2012;122(2):448-454. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI57414.
View: Text | PDF
Review Series

Dissecting the bulge in hair regeneration

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

The adult hair follicle houses stem cells that govern the cyclical growth and differentiation of multiple cell types that collectively produce a pigmented hair. Recent studies have revealed that hair follicle stem cells are heterogeneous and dynamic throughout the hair cycle. Moreover, interactions between heterologous stem cells, including both epithelial and melanocyte stem cells, within the hair follicle are just now being explored. This review will describe how recent findings have expanded our understanding of the development, organization, and regeneration of hair follicle stem cells. At a basic level, this review is intended to help construct a reference point to integrate the surge of studies on the molecular mechanisms that regulate these cells.

Authors

Peggy Myung, Mayumi Ito

×

Figure 1

The location of LRCs during the hair cycle.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
The location of LRCs during the hair cycle.
(A and B) During spontaneous...
(A and B) During spontaneous anagen phase (A) or depilation-induced anagen phase (B), actively dividing sHG and bulge cells incorporate a pulse of BrdU nucleotide label. During anagen phase, cells within the sHG/bulge cycle infrequently and give rise to rapidly proliferating TA cells that migrate down to the bulb, which contains matrix cells. In contrast, slow-cycling cells from the sHG/bulge area retain the BrdU label and remain in the telogen sac and upper portion of the anagen ORS. During the chase period, rapidly dividing cells lose the BrdU label and, by the late anagen phase, can no longer be detected, while those slow-cycling cells in the upper hair follicle retain the BrdU label (LRCs). During the catagen phase, cells within the matrix and lower ORS undergo apoptosis, and the hair follicle retracts upward with the associated DP. LRCs remain as the permanent population of the ORS and can also be seen in the epithelial strand during the catagen phase. As the catagen phase proceeds, LRCs in the forming club hair follicle begin to upregulate bulge and sHG markers while entering the telogen phase. In the telogen phase, the sHG rests above the DP, while the bulge surrounds the club hair as an epithelial sac. (B) In depilation-induced anagen phase, nearly all bulge cells undergo apoptosis after the club hair is plucked and are quickly replenished by remaining proliferating sHG cells. As sHG cells repopulate the bulge, cells within the bulge region upregulate bulge-specific markers.

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts