UCLA

The hair follicle is considered a mini-organ which makes it a useful model for studying regenerative processes and cross-tissue interactions due to its unique populations of cell types and specialized pools of adult stem cells. Hair itself is a defining feature of the skin organ and is critical for external protection, thermoregulation, sweat and pheromone relays, and social interactions. In the bulge niche, hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) oscillate between activation and quiescence to create the hair cycle. This process is cyclically and dynamically maintained throughout a coated animal's lifetime, requiring precise temporal and spatial control of the HFSC niche. However, a complete inventory of the mechanisms underlying hair follicle homeostasis remains unclear. Herein I will briefly explain the current dogma of signaling pathways regulating HFSCs. But, the novelty of my work will go on to further describe the synergistic – yet understudied – roles of metabolic control and canonical G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) and signaling in modulating downstream genes facilitating HFSC biology. The data out of these projects of course will yield new avenues for the development of metabolic/pharmacological compounds alike for regenerative medicine and equally important molecular management of adult stem cell homeostasis.