L-Cystine-Containing Hair-Growth Formulation Supports Protection, Viability, and Proliferation of Keratinocytes.

Purpose: Clinical studies have confirmed that the hair-growth-promoting effect of approved oral drug combinations is beneficial for the treatment of diffuse telogen effluvium, which is characterized by the excessive loss of telogen club hairs. Since data elucidating the mode of action of such combinations are limited, our study focused on the identification of cellular processes potentially supporting the treatment of hair loss.

Materials And Methods: A minimal growth culture system (MGM) was used to mimic in vitro the reduced activity of human hair follicular keratinocytes (HHFKs).

Cystine-thiamin-containing hair-growth formulation modulates the response to UV radiation in an in vitro model for growth-limiting conditions of human keratinocytes.

Background: Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is known to be harmful to normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs) of the epidermal skin layer, as well as to hair-follicle-associated keratinocytes. An oral formulation containing l-cystine, thiamin, calcium d-pantothenate, medicinal yeast, keratin and p-aminobenzoic acid (Panto[vi]gar®) has demonstrated clinical efficacy for the treatment of diffuse telogen effluvium; however, its mode of action at the cellular level, and in particular whether protective mechanisms are involved, has yet to be elucidated.

Objectives: To assess the capacity of ingredients of this oral formulation, both separately and in combination, to modulate the effects of UVR in growth-limited NHEKs in vitro.

Expression of hurpin, a serine proteinase inhibitor, in normal and pathological skin: overexpression and redistribution in psoriasis and cutaneous carcinomas.

Hurpin was identified by differential display analysis studying UV-repressible genes in the keratinocyte cell line HaCaT. We have previously reported that hurpin mRNA is overexpressed in psoriatic skin compared to non-lesional or normal skin; hurpin inhibits cathepsin L and that, after overexpression in keratinocytes, hurpin decreases UV-induced apoptosis. To further study the expression of hurpin, we have isolated monoclonal antibodies against hurpin and analyzed its expression in normal and diseased skin by immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Hurpin is a selective inhibitor of lysosomal cathepsin L and protects keratinocytes from ultraviolet-induced apoptosis.

Hurpin (headpin/PI13/serpinB13) is an intracellular, differentially spliced member of the serpin superfamily that has been linked to differentiation and apoptosis of human keratinocytes. It is transiently downregulated by UV light and overexpressed in psoriatic skin lesions. Although it has all of the features of an inhibitory serpin, a productive interaction between hurpin and a proteinase has not yet been reported.

Molecular basis of basal cell carcinoma: analysis of differential gene expression by differential display PCR and expression array.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common tumor in the Caucasian population. Although BCC rarely metastasize and cause death, they are problematic due to their destructive growth and the frequent localization on the face. Until now the knowledge of genes differentially expressed in BCC has been incomplete.