[2008.06.07] Hair today, hair tomorrow 永葆秀发

For those so follicularly challenged that they have little hair to move around in this way, however, there is now hope. This comes not in a jar, but in a test-tube from a Manchester-based company called Intercytex. The firm’s technique exploits the regenerative properties of what are known as dermal papilla cells. These are the cells that create hair follicles in the first place. They remain at the base of the hair when they have finished their job.
对那些秃子来说，他们头发如此少以致于没有多少自体头 发可用语移植，然而，现在有了希望。这个希望不是来自药瓶中药物，而来自位于英国曼彻斯特的生物科学公司Intercytex的试管中的细胞。公司的这项 技术利用毛乳头细胞的再生能力。毛乳头细胞位于头发的根部，是生成毛囊的基本细胞，并且生成毛囊之后，仍留存于头发根部。

Some years ago it was discovered that when these cells are relocated, an entirely new hair will grow. That observation is only useful, though, if you can multiply dermal papilla cells—and do so in a way that allows them to keep their ability to induce hair growth. For, in normal culture, dermal papilla cells quickly lose this sought-after ability.
几年前，研究发现这些细胞移植后，就会长出全新的头发。然而，如果你能用一种方法培养繁殖人毛发小囊皮肤乳头细胞，使该细胞保持诱导头发生长的能力，该研究才有应用价值，因为，按正常培育，这种细胞很快丧失我们所渴望的诱导头发生长的能力。

This, says Nick Higgins, Intercytex’s boss, has taxed scientists for years. Intercytex appears to be working on two solutions. Although it is understandably tight-lipped about the exact mechanism behind its success, one probably enlists the help of cells called keratinocytes, which interact naturally with the dermal papilla cells of the hair follicle and secrete a chemical factor that supports their growth. At present, the identity of this growth factor is a mystery. However, it is likely that one of Intercytex’s methods involves supplying this factor to cultured dermal papilla cells. Intercytex’s second approach seems to involve culturing the dermal papilla cells with proteins that take part in signalling during the process that creates hair.
Intercytex 公司老板说，这一细胞培育难题耗费科学家们多年的心血。Intercytex 显然在研究两套技术方案。该公司对细胞成功繁殖的准确机理守口如瓶，这是可以理解的，但有人可能借助角化细胞作用，该细胞容易与人毛发小囊皮肤乳头细胞相 互作用，分泌一种支持细胞生长的化学因子。当前，这种生长因子的鉴定还是秘密，然而，Intercytex 公司有一种技术方法可能要加入这种生长因子来培育人毛发小囊皮肤乳头细胞。另一种技术方案似乎加入一些相关蛋白质来培育人毛发小囊皮肤乳头细胞，这些蛋白 质参与头发生长过程的信号传递。

The long and short of it is that being able to multiply these cells while preserving their efficacy opens the way for unlimited supplies of head hair. Intercytex is therefore conducting a trial of the technology in Manchester. Nineteen “patients” have had a small amount of hair removed, follicles and all, from the backs of their heads. Their dermal papilla cells have been extracted, multiplied and re-injected into their scalps. The trial’s full results will not be available until March 2009, but the company has already said that at least two-thirds of its patients have generated new hair within six months.
简而言之，这种化学因子或蛋白质既能繁殖这些细胞又能使该细胞保持促进头发生长的活力。因此，Intercytex 公司在曼彻斯特开始进行这项技术的临床实验。从19位病患头部皮肤取出少量毛囊,萃取出真皮毛乳头细胞,浸入特制培养液中让它们大量繁殖,然后再将新细胞 以注射方式植入病患头皮。实验的全部结果要到2009年3月才能获得，但该公司已经说至少有三分之二患者在6个月长出新头发。