ArticlePLoS biology2018
Autophagy is essential for maintaining the growth of a human (mini-)organ: Evidence from scalp hair follicle organ culture.
Article in PLoS biology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 82 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative Genomics Reveals Recurrent Loss ofGenes · 2026Article
- In vitro and in vivo models for androgenetic alopecia drug development.Disease models & mechanisms · 2026Review
- Integrated multiomics analysis reveals the molecular features and crucial regulators of hair follicles in yak (Bos grunniens).Communications biology · 2026Article
- Corticotropin-releasing hormone inhibits autophagy by suppressing PTEN to promote apoptosis in dermal papilla cells.Annals of medicine · 2025Article
- Multifunctional nanomedicine targeting the 'seed-and-soil' of hair follicles via simultaneous alleviation of oxidative stress and activation of autophagy for androgenetic alopecia therapy.Materials today. Bio · 2025Article
- Autophagy and Premature Graying of Hair: The Role of LC3 as a Biomarker in a Case-Control Study.Dermatology practical & conceptual · 2025Article
- A comparative proteomic-based study identifies essential factors involved in hair follicle growth in inner Mongolia cashmere goats.BMC veterinary research · 2025Article
- RORA Regulates Autophagy in Hair Follicle Stem Cells by Upregulating the Expression Level of theBiomolecules · 2025Article
- Genetic architecture of thermotolerance traits in beef cattle: a novel integration of SNP and breed-of-origin effects.Frontiers in genetics · 2025Article
- Review
- ICP5249 Promotes Hair Growth by Activating the AMPK-Autophagy Signaling Pathway.Journal of microbiology and biotechnology · 2024Article
- Autophagy induces hair follicle stem cell activation and hair follicle regeneration by regulating glycolysis.Cell & bioscience · 2024Article
- Mechanisms of autophagy and their implications in dermatological disorders.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- The multifaceted role of autophagy in skin autoimmune disorders: a guardian or culprit?Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Autophagy Dysfunction: The Kernel of Hair Loss?Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology · 2024Review
- Article
- Psychological Stress-Induced Pathogenesis of Alopecia Areata: Autoimmune and Apoptotic Pathways.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Ginsenoside Re prevents 3-methyladenine-induced catagen phase acceleration by regulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling in human dermal papilla cells.Journal of ginseng research · 2023Article
- Impaired autophagy promotes hair loss in the C3H/HeJ mouse model of alopecia areata.Autophagy · 2023Article
- Oxidative stress and alopecia areata.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Autophagy plays a crucial role in health and disease, regulating central cellular processes such as adaptive stress responses, differentiation, tissue development, and homeostasis. However, the role of autophagy in human physiology is poorly understood, highlighting a need for a model human organ system to assess the efficacy and safety of strategies to therapeutically modulate autophagy. As a complete, cyclically remodelled (mini-)organ, the organ culture of human scalp hair follicles (HFs), which, after massive growth (anagen), spontaneously enter into an apoptosis-driven organ involution (catagen) process, may provide such a model. Here, we reveal that in anagen, hair matrix keratinocytes (MKs) of organ-cultured HFs exhibit an active autophagic flux, as documented by evaluation of endogenous lipidated Light Chain 3B (LC3B) and sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1/p62) proteins and the ultrastructural visualization of autophagosomes at all stages of the autophagy process. This autophagic flux is altered during catagen, and genetic inhibition of autophagy promotes catagen development. Conversely, an anti-hair loss product markedly enhances intrafollicular autophagy, leading to anagen prolongation. Collectively, our data reveal a novel role of autophagy in human hair growth. Moreover, we show that organ-cultured scalp HFs are an excellent preclinical research model for exploring the role of autophagy in human tissue physiology and for evaluating the efficacy and tissue toxicity of candidate autophagy-modulatory agents in a living human (mini-)organ.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.