德国科学家最新的发现表明，不久的将来，使用血液兴奋剂EPO(促红细胞生长素)就如同洗发一样方便，当然这项技术也可以应用治疗重症贫血病人。该研究的成果发表于最新一期的FASEB 杂志上。
每个人头部大约有10万个毛囊，研究人员发现毛囊可以成为EPO的生产工厂。EPO不仅可以促进红细胞在体内的生长，目前也认为是骨髓外组织自我保护的重要物质。毛囊是人体增生最快的组织，研究发现，在体外，缺氧或化学作用的刺激下，毛囊促发EPO和EPO相关受体明显增加。此项研究表明，在外界环境的刺激下毛囊有可能成为EPO的生产基地，目前只是基础研究，但是科学家认为进一步的研究也许可以使人类在任何需要的时刻由毛囊提供EPO，成为一种有效、安全、廉价的EPO的生产方法，对运动员而言，也许如需使用EPO，改变一下发型就可以提升体内EPO的水平。
通常，运动员使用EPO来增强血液的供氧能力，希望通过提高耐力而提高运动成绩。（中国经营报）
原始出处:
Published as doi: 10.1096/fj.07-8628com.
(The FASEB Journal. 2007;21:3346-3354.)
Human hair follicles are an extrarenal source and a nonhematopoietic target of erythropoietin
Enik Bodó*,1, Arno Kromminga,1, Wolfgang Funk, Magdalena Laugsch, Ute Duske, Wolfgang Jelkmann and Ralf Paus*,2
* Department of Dermatology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany;
Institute for Immunology, Clinical Pathology, Molecular Medicine, Hamburg, Germany;
Klinik Dr. Kozlowski, Munich, Germany; and
Department of Physiology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
2Correspondence: Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany. E-mail: ralf.paus@uk-sh.de
Erythropoietin primarily serves as an essential growth factor for erythrocyte precursor cells. However, there is increasing evidence that erythropoietin (EPO)/EPO receptor (EPO-R) signaling operates as a potential tissue-protective system outside the bone marrow. Arguing that growing hair follicles (HF) are among the most rapidly proliferating tissues, we have here explored whether human HFs are sources of EPO and targets of EPO-R-mediated signaling. Human scalp skin and microdissected HFs were assessed for EPO and EPO-R expression, and the effects of EPO on organ-cultured HFs were assessed in the presence/absence of a classical apoptosis-inducing chemotherapeutic agent. Here, we show that human scalp HFs express EPO on the mRNA and protein level in situ, up-regulate EPO transcription under hypoxic conditions, and express transcripts for EPO-R and the EPO-stimulatory transcriptional cofactor hypoxia-inducible factor-1. Although EPO does not significantly alter human hair growth in vitro, it significantly down-regulates chemotherapy-induced intrafollicular apoptosis and changes the gene expression program of the HFs. The current study points to intriguing targets of EPO beyond the erythropoietic system: human HFs are an extrarenal site of EPO production and an extrahematopoietic site of EPO-R expression. They may recruit EPO/EPO-R signaling e.g., for modulating HF apoptosis under conditions of hypoxia and chemotherapy-induced stress.—Bodó, E., Kromminga, A., Funk, W., Laugsch, M, Duske, U., Jelkmann, W., Paus, R. Human hair follicles are an extrarenal source and a non-hematopoietic target of erythropoietin.
Key Words: anagen hair follicles • tissue protection • hemoglobin alpha-1 • kinesin light chain 3 • aminase oxidase • calmegin • RAS-like family 10
