Research conducted by Northwestern Medicine scientists has unveiled how hair follicle stem cells (HF-SCs) sense mechanical forces in their environment. These long-lived cells, essential for hair growth and regeneration, use the ion channel PIEZO1 to perceive tension and pressure. When E-cadherin, a connecting protein, is pulled, PIEZO1 activates, allowing calcium ions to enter the cells. This process is crucial in maintaining HF-SCs in a resting state, thereby influencing their growth and potential therapeutic approaches for hair loss and wound healing.
"The question is how cells sense mechanical force and how they translate that force into signals to tell them what to do, which has not previously been clear."
"PIEZO1 is a mechanosensitive ion channel that opens in response to physical force and allows calcium ions to flow into the cell."
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