Immune modulation of hair follicle regeneration

Abstract

The mammalian hair follicle undergoes repeated bouts of regeneration orchestrated by a variety of hair follicle stem cells. The last decade has witnessed the emergence of the immune niche as a key regulator of stem cell behavior and hair follicle regeneration. Hair follicles chemotactically attract macrophages and T cells so that they are in range to regulate epithelial stem cell quiescence, proliferation and differentiation during physiologic and injured states. Disruption of this dynamic relationship leads to clinically significant forms of hair loss including scarring and non-scarring alopecias. In this review, we summarize key concepts behind immune-mediated hair regeneration, highlight gaps in the literature and discuss the therapeutic potential of exploiting this relationship for treating various immune-mediated alopecias.