The Roles of Non-coding RNA in the Development and Regeneration of Hair Follicles: Current Status and Further Perspectives

Min Yang; Tingting Weng; Wei Zhang; Manjia Zhang; Xiaojie He; Chunmao Han; Xingang Wang

doi:10.3389/fcell.2021.720879

The Roles of Non-coding RNA in the Development and Regeneration of Hair Follicles: Current Status and Further Perspectives

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Oct 11:9:720879. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.720879. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Min Yang^{1

2}, Tingting Weng^{1

2}, Wei Zhang^{1

2}, Manjia Zhang³, Xiaojie He⁴, Chunmao Han^{1

2}, Xingang Wang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Burns & Wound Care Center, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
² Key Laboratory of the Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Trauma and Burn of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.
³ The First Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
⁴ Department of General Practice, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Alopecia is a common problem that affects almost every age group and is considered to be an issue for cosmetic or psychiatric reasons. The loss of hair follicles (HFs) and hair caused by alopecia impairs self-esteem, thermoregulation, tactile sensation and protection from ultraviolet light. One strategy to solve this problem is HF regeneration. Many signalling pathways and molecules participate in the morphology and regeneration of HF, such as Wnt/β-catenin, Sonic hedgehog, bone morphogenetic protein and Notch. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), especially microRNAs and long ncRNAs, have significant modulatory roles in HF development and regeneration via regulation of these signalling pathways. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the status and future prospects of ncRNAs in HF regeneration and could prompt novel ncRNA-based therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: alopecia; hair follicle; hair follicle cycling; non-coding RNA; regeneration.

Publication types

Review