White hair: a link with immunity
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A study conducted on the mouse explains why it is possible to have more white hair after infection or chronic stress. The loss of hair pigmentation is associated with the activation of the innate immune system.
Sometimes, some people have more white hair after a serious illness or chronic stress. A new study from the University of Alabama (US) published in Plos Biology provides an explanation. Researchers have discovered a link between genes that contribute to the color of hair (or hair) and those that inform the body of an infection.
When a virus or bacteria attacks the body, the innate immune system goes into action. Cells respond by secreting molecules, the interferons, that activate the host's defenses. Here, the researchers found an unexpected link between white hair, a transcription factor (MITF), and innate immunity. In the 1980s, studies in mice had already found that exposure to a murine virus (MuLV) promoted premature whitening of the hair.
Did you know ?
The color of the hair is due to the presence of a pigment produced by particular cells, the melanocytes. During aging, when hair falls off and new hair regrows, melanocyte stem cells serve as reservoirs to produce new melanocytes. The loss of these stem cells leads to the formation of hair and white hairs.
MITF plays a role in the control of various functions of the melanocyte. In the mouse, if the mitf gene is not expressed, there is an almost total absence of melanoblasts in the embryo, which gives birth, all white mice. But MITF is also linked to the cell's response to interferon: it reduces the expression of genes in the innate immune response in cells of the melanocyte lineage.
A link between hair color and the innate immune response
The researchers worked with a mouse model predisposed to having white hairs. In these animals, scientists have artificially activated the innate immune response, for example by mimicking a viral infection. As a result, the mice had a significant loss of melanocytes and melanocyte stem cells, resulting in the presence of more gray hairs.
William Pavan, one of the authors of the study, said in a statement: "This new discovery suggests that the genes that control the pigment in the hair and skin also work to control the innate immune system. These results can improve our understanding of hair aging. More importantly, the discovery of this connection will help us understand pigmentation diseases such as vitiligo, with the involvement of the innate immune system. "
These results may explain why some people have premature white hair in their lives. Other signaling pathways are also involved in the manufacture of white hair.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
The color of hair and hair is due to the production of pigments by specialized cells, melanocytes.
MITF controls both the color of hair and hair and the response of melanocytes to interferon.
Interferon is a molecule produced by cells during an infection.
Source: http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2003648
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