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Can we get rid of grey hair with an ultrasound-guided hair colour therapy?
Introduction
We all get grey hair at some point in our lives. Researchers suggest that most people get grey hair around the mid-30s, but this varies depending on ethnicity, lifestyle factors, etc. Follicular melanocytes are the cells that produce the pigment called melanin. This pigment is what determines our hair colour. We usually get grey hair because the number of melanocytes decreases.
Stress can induce hair greying. Stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, causing a release of noradrenaline. Noradrenaline depletes the melanocyte stem cells, and so we get grey hair! Noradrenaline can bind to melanocyte stem cells because they have β2 adrenergic receptors on their cell surface.
In a study, Zhang knocked out β2 adrenergic receptors and induced stress in mice, but the mice didn't get grey hair. Furthermore, they used guanethidine on the mice - guanethidine inhibits noradrenaline. Guanethidine prevented the hair from greying when stress was induced in the mice. So, noradrenaline seems to drive the loss of hair colour.
The idea
Try to specifically inhibit the interaction between noradrenaline and the β2 adrenergic receptors on melanocyte stem cells near the hair follicles using ultrasound-guided hair colour therapy!
Ultrasound-guided technology is a delivery method that uses nanoparticles to carry items and an ultrasound to guide the nanoparticles to a specific location in the body. Ryu used the ultrasound-guided method to target the hair follicles before. The researchers were able to reduce SRDA5 levels at the hair follicles using CRISPR - leading to hair growth. Similarly, we could use ultrasounds to target the scalp with the hair colour therapy so that the hair follicles are targeted specifically.
I thought we could either enclose noradrenaline inhibitors, CRISPR, or some other method in the nanoparticles for the hair colour therapy.
Why do we need specific targeting?
Noradrenaline is essential for our bodily processes, such as heart rate, glucose regulation, blood flow, mood, etc. Low levels of noradrenaline can result in depression, ADHD, anxiety, altered heart rate, and much more.
So, altering noradrenaline levels in specific locations might be more beneficial than having high or low levels in the body overall.
Which method do you think we should use for hair colour therapy?
Are there any limitations to this hair colour therapy?
How can I improve the idea?
Let me know what you think.
[1]Kumar, Anagha Bangalore, Huma Shamim, and Umashankar Nagaraju. "Premature graying of hair: review with updates." International journal of trichology 10.5 (2018): 198.
[2]Zhang, Bing, et al. "Hyperactivation of sympathetic nerves drives depletion of melanocyte stem cells." Nature 577.7792 (2020): 676-681.
[3]Ryu, Jee-Yeon, et al. "Ultrasound-activated particles as CRISPR/Cas9 delivery system for androgenic alopecia therapy." Biomaterials 232 (2020): 119736.
Jamila Nov 09, 2020