American researchers think they’ve found the reason why hair turns gray with age, reports the BBC.
These would be pigment-producing cells that lose their ability to mature.
Halting development would affect immature cells that would otherwise develop into melanocytes to give the hair its natural color or tone.
As hair ages, falls out and grows back, more and more melanocyte stem cells become sluggish in their work.
Stem cells stop moving in the hair follicle and attach without turning into full-fledged melanocytes.
If there is a lack of pigment production, the hair turns grey, white or silver.
The New York University team studied this process in mice, which have identical cells for the color of their hair.
Researchers believe this discovery could help reverse graying hair.
“Our study gives us a better understanding of how melanocyte stem cells color hair,” said Dr. Qi Sun, principal investigator on the study and postdoctoral researcher at NYU Langone Health, the journal Nature.
“The newly discovered mechanisms raise the possibility that the same fixed positioning of melanocyte stem cells could exist in humans. If so, this is a possible way to reverse or prevent graying.”
This discovery could also contribute to the development of new treatments for certain types of cancer and dermatological problems.