Protein N-WASP helps hair growth

A team of researchers, led by Scott Snapper, at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, has now determined that the protein N-WASP, which acts downstream of Cdc42 to regulate cytoskeleton reorganization, has a key role in skin function and hair follicle cycling by generating and analyzing mice lacking N-WASP in skin.

Analysis of the mice indicated that N-WASP is critical for cells of the outer layer of the skin to proliferate and for hair growth but is dispensable for wound healing. The role of N-WASP in hair growth was found to be a result of its key role in hair follicle cycling and in the maintenance and differentiation of hair follicle progenitor cells. As further analysis indicated that N-WASP regulated the function of the gene regulatory protein β-catenin in cells of the outer layer of the skin from hair follicles, the authors suggest that N-WASP promotes β-catenin-dependent gene expression, thereby supporting the differentiation of hair follicle progenitor cells.