Meeting
ReportWeekly Newsletter
Introduction
The 7th World Congress for Hair Research washeld in Edinburgh, Scotland from May 4th to
6th. A total of 597 clinicians, investigators,
surgeons, patient representatives and industry
personnel from 47 countries gathered together
to discuss recent innovations in the field of hairresearch. The meeting brought together
researchers from a wide range of disciplines,
highlighting the top scientific discoveries in the
recent years in 10 concurrent sessions andthree plenary symposia. This was a unique
opportunity for young investigators to present
their work together with the world's leading
pioneers, stimulating vivid discussions thatenergized the hair research community.
Before the official start of the meeting, threescience education sessions, and a precongress clinical course took place in thewonderful Edinburgh International ConferenceCentre, the venue for the whole meeting. In
these sessions, leading experts gave
educational talks on several fast-evolving fields
in hair research. The "Genetics andEpigenetics: All you wanted to know but wereafraid to ask" session was dedicated to the newtechniques available today in genetic
investigations, and how they can be harnessed
for hair research. This session started by an
edifying talk by Regina Betz (Bonn, Germany),
who reviewed the old and new tools available
today for genetic research. This was followed
by several talks on cutting-edge scientificinnovations, including the role of chromatin

By Yuval Ramot

May 2013

folding on gene expression (Wendy Bickmore,
Edinburgh, UK) and the role of microRNA in
hair follicle function (Natalia Botchkareva,
Bradford, UK). The last talk in this session wasgiven by Claire Higgins (New York, USA), andwas dedicated to the fascinating finding of thepotential to reprogram hair follicle cells to apluripotent state. This finding opens a whole
new horizon for the utilization of the hair follicle
in regenerative medicine and many other uses.

The "What's new in hair follicle model
systems?" session focused on the tools
available for scientists today for studying hairfollicles. An extensive review on the potential
use of mouse models for the study of hairdiseases was given by John Sundberg (Maine,USA), and this talk was followed by several
lectures on the use of in vitro models which
involve human material. The dermal papillaculture systems were presented by Young
Kwan Sung (Daegu, Republic of Korea), whogave a comprehensive overview of thedevelopment of these cultures and theirpotential uses. Michael Philpott (London, UK)showed how the human hair follicle culture
model can be utilized for studying a plethora ofparameters in the human hair follicle. In his talkthe many advantages of this model wereemphasized, but he also named the limitationsof this model, and the importance of properly
selecting the hair follicle samples for culture.
Following his talk, Ben Miranda (Bradford, UK)suggested a new hair follicle culture system,
which uses intermediate hair follicles instead ofthe more commonly used terminal hair follicles,
thus proposing a new model system forexperiments on hair diseases.

The opening lecture was given this year by
Tayce Phillipson (Edinburgh, Scotland), who
vividly reviewed the scientific and technologic
contributions of Scotland, as appear in the
National Museum of Scotland (penicillin and
Dolly the sheep are only two examples).
Following this talk, Jackie Tomlinson spoke onbehalf of Alopecia UK, sharing with theaudience the patient's view of alopecia areata.
This heart-touching talk was an inspiration for
all attendees, and emphasized the necessity for
performing research in this field. After acheerful Whisky tasting experience, thewelcome reception took place in the historic
Edinburgh Castle, accompanied by live Scottish
pipe band music.

A special science education session wasdedicated to the hair fiber, with a focus on curlyhair. In this session, chaired by Gill Westgate(Bedford, UK) and John Gray (South Africa),
the different theories concerning the formationof curly hair were discussed.

Keynote Lectures

At the end of each session, a summary
discussion was held, with active participation of
the audience. These invigorating and thoughtprovoking discussions were the highlight of thesession, allowing the participants tocommunicate with leading experts in the field.
The meeting officially started with welcome
speeches by the 7th WCHR President, Andrew
Messenger (Sheffield, UK) and President of the
EHRS, Gill Westgate who welcomed each of
the Hair Research Societies to Edinburgh andmade a small presentation to each of a Quaich.

Two luminaries of hair research delivered theconference's keynote addresses: Elaine Fuchs(New York, USA) pictured above, and Ulrike
Blume-Peytavi (Berlin, Germany). Fuchs
reviewed her fundamental work in exploring theregulatory mechanisms of the hair follicle stem
cell functions, and especially the crosstalk
between these cells and theirmicroenvironment. Elaine Fuchs' work
underlines the hair follicle as a perfect model
for studying stem cells, being a selfregenerating mini-organ.

Elaine Fuchs showed how the fact that themurine hair cycles are synchronous canfacilitate our understanding of stem cell
regulation in health and disease.
This year the John Ebling Lecture, the highest
award given by the EHRS, was given by Ulrike
Blume-Peytavi (pictured below receiving theaward from Prof Valerie Randall).
She reviewed her life-long journey for finding
better therapies for hair diseases. Her talkemphasized how experimental research canlead to new therapies, and combined with newtechnologies and standards allow us to performwell-controlled clinical trials. The results ofthese clinical trials give us strong data, on
which evidence-based trichology can beformed. The formation of evidence-based
trichology can facilitate better consultation forpatients with hair diseases.

Plenary Lectures
In accordance with the recent exciting
advancements in stem cell research, the firstplenary session was dedicated to an update on
hair follicle stem cells. George Cotsarelis(Pennsylvania, USA) described his work in
examining the different cell populations that
reside in the bulge using different cell markers.
Cotsarelis described how using these markers,
it is possible to show that androgenetic alopecia
may be attributed to a defect in thetransformation of stem cells to progenitor cells.
In other work, he demonstrated a hitherto
unexpected role for prostaglandin D2 ininhibiting hair growth, and suggested thatPGD2 inhibitors might be therapeutically usefulin alopecia.
The topic of hair follicle aging is of great interest
and a field of extensive research. Emi
Nishimura (Tokyo, Japan) provided evidence,
utilizing chronological analysis, that agingassociated hair graying and hair loss is
attributable in part to defective renewal of thehair follicle melanocyte and hair follicle stem
cells. Her work also provides us with theunderstanding of the underlying mechanisms of
the hair follicle aging.
Valentina Greco (New Haven, USA) discussed
a new in vivo imaging technique, which enables
to visualize the cells residing in the bulge. This
innovative method allows monitoring of thestem cells and their progeny during hair
regeneration. Using genetic approaches, it ispossible to dissect the role of different signaling
pathways in this process.
Colin Jahoda (Durham, UK) presented hislaboratory's work on establishing thecharacteristics of dermal sheath and dermal
papilla cells, and their capacity to form skinderived precursors. By developing threedimensional skin models, Jahoda's group has
also established the fact that cultured follicle
dermal cells can elicit normal epidermal
differentiation.
The second plenary session focused onprogresses in clinical hair disorders. Angela
Christiano (New York, USA) presented hermonumental work on discovering the genetic
basis for alopecia areata. Rooting from theextensive genome-wide microarray study
reported in 2010 in Nature, several candidate
genes have been discovered to be associatedwith alopecia areata, and of special importance
was the finding that the NKG2D axis may be a
prominent player in the pathogenesis of thiscondition. Christiano also reviewed possible
new therapeutic strategies for this condition,
including abatacept, anti-IL15ra antibodies andtopical JAK inhibitors, which all show potential
benefit in mice models.
Pratima Karnik (Ohio, USA) spoke about therole of xenobiotic receptors in cicatricial
alopecia, and specifically on the role of the arylhydrocarbon receptor. To delineate the role ofthis receptor in the skin, Pratima Karnik
developed a transgenic mouse model, which
overexpresses the aryl hydrocarbon receptor in
the skin. These mice developed clinical andhistopathological phenotypes, which resemble
scarring alopecia. In addition for suggesting a
new model for investigating scarring alopecias,
this study emphasizes the potential connection
between the environment and the developmentof scarring alopecias.
Won-Soo Lee (Wonju, Republic of Korea) gave
a comprehensive overview on the latest
updates in management of pattern hair loss,
with emphasize on the recent well-controlled
clinical trials in this field. Lee presented the
Basic and Specific classification, on its basis a
new algorithmic evaluation of pattern hair loss
has been developed.
It is known that cicatricial alopecias pose a
special problem in regards to proper surgicalmanagement, pertaining mostly to the stabilityof the disorder before surgical intervention.
Russell Knudsen (Double Bay, Australia)
shared with the audience his experience intreating these conditions, summarizing thatfrontal fibrosing alopecia poses a special risk
for re-activation, and therefore life-timetreatment should be continued in these patients
after surgery.
The concluding plenary session focused on the
new discoveries in clinical and basic science
aspects of hair research. Abraham Zlotogorski(Jerusalem, Israel) in a fascinating talk full withlife and humour reviewed the new therapeutic
options for hair diseases. Although newtreatments still seem to emerge, most of themwere not substantiated in well-controlled clinical
trials. Zlotogorski concluded by emphasizing
the need for such large-scale studies.

Sarah Millar (Pennsylvania, USA) reviewed therecent advancements in basic hair research,focusing on the molecular signaling pathways
involved in hair follicle regulation. Millar
demonstrated that the hair follicle development
requires reciprocal signals between dermal andepithelial cells, with special emphasize on the
WNT/beta-catenin signaling pathway. She also
underlined the fact that it is known today thatmouse models are relevant also for human hairfollicle formation.
Concurrent Sessions
The burst of information in hair research that
accumulated in the last year was exemplified by
the large number of excellent studies andabstracts that were submitted to the meeting(242 in total). The highest scoring abstracts
were presented in a total of 10 concurrent
sessions, which were dedicated to the following
subjects: alopecia areata (two sessions); tissue
engineering and regeneration; stem cells andepigenetics; clinical cases; androgenetic
alopecia and hair restoration; factors
influencing hair growth; genetic hair disorders
and hair fibre science; cicatricial alopecia; andhair follicle development, control of the haircycle and pigmentation.

Highlights from these sessions include the talkby Lynn Petukhova (New York, USA), which
awarded her the prestigious Jurgen Schweizer
award, which is given annually to young
promising scientists. Petukhova reviewed herwork in further elucidating the role of the
NKG2D axis in alopecia areata pathogenesis,
following her previous findings from the large
genome wide microarray study performed on alarge cohort of alopecia areata patients. By
performing additional genetic studies, including
whole-exome and targeted sequencing, ULBP6
has emerged as an essential node in thegenetic architecture of alopecia areata
pathogenesis. This finding corroborates theprevious findings of the genome-wide
association study.
The high quality of alopecia areata research
was mirrored by the fact that 3 more talks fromthe concurrent alopecia areata sessions
received the high-scoring presentations award.
Tom Lovewell (Sheffield, UK) presented dataon polymorphisms in the AIRE gene, and theirrelation to alopecia areata induction. AIRE isessential for negative selection of T cells in thethymus, and was previously suggested to be
associated with alopecia areata induction.
Lovewell showed that polymorphisms in the
AIRE promoter region may affect AIRE
transcription, and therefore lead to an
autoimmune response as evident in alopecia
areata.
Annemieke de Jong (New York, USA)
presented work utilizing next-generation T-cell
receptor sequencing in humans, demonstrating
expanded T-cell clones in lesional skin andblood of alopecia areata patients. Comparable
findings were also evident in the C3H/Hej
mouse model for alopecia areata. This finding
raises the possibility to monitor autoimmune
disease progression using T-cell receptor
sequencing.
Although alopecia areata is considered to be an
autoimmune disease, the exact autoantigen inthis condition is yet to be revealed. Xiaojie
Wang (Vancouver, Canada) described his
study to elucidate potential epitopes in alopecia
areata patients. By exploring a large array ofpotential epitopes in humans and mousemodels, Wang concluded that trichohyalin,
MART1 and K16 are potential causative
antigens in this disease.
In a fascinating concurrent session on stem
cells and epigenetics, Krzysztof Poterlowicz(Bradford, UK) focused on the role of Lhx2 in
the hair follicle growth and stem cellmaintenance. He presented evidence frommice studies for the existence of positive
regulatory loops between Lhx2 and Sox9/Tcf4.
Additionally, several additional gene groups
were found to be regulated by Lhx2, which was
suggested to function mostly as atranscriptional repressor.
In the same session, Takeshi Nakajima (Suita,
Japan) reported on the role of MED1 inmaintenance of normal hair follicle cycling andfunctions of stem cells. Takeshi Nakajima
established keratinocyte-specific Med1-null
mice, which showed marked epidermal andfollicular phenotypes. These findings highlightthe role of MED1 in maintaining quiescence of
keratinocytes and follicular stem cells.
In the concurrent session entitled "Hair follicle
development, control of the hair cycle andpigmentation", Carlos Clavel (New York, USA)
presented fascinating work on skin fibroblasts.

By overexpressing a combination of dermal
papilla transcription factors in freshly isolatedskin fibroblasts, Clavel could reprogram thecells into hair-inducing dermal papilla cells,
which might be utilized in the future for hair
restoration.
The tissue engineering and regeneration
concurrent session provided several intriguingtalks, and of special interest was Xunwei Wu's
talk (Marietta, USA), which showed how to formskin which is able to grow hair using cultured
human scalp dermal cells combined withneonatal foreskin keratinocytes. This
reconstituted skin could retain human features
for at least 1 year, therefore offering a new tool
for studying skin disorders and potential clinicalapplications.

studies to further understand the mode ofaction of minoxidil. Hair fibre science featured
in the session presented by Kao, with a special
lecture by Prof George Rogers (Adelaide,
Australia); in addition P&G organised an updateon the causes of and repair solutions to hairdamage and Unilever presented insights into
the development of new technologies for Dovehair care products. P&G also presented asession on scalp health. The Hair ResearchSociety of India also organized a workshop on
aspects of hair trichology and restoration.
Alopecia UK and Art and Poetry exhibition
Daniel Regan, a photographer based in
London, presented work from his Alopecia
Project at the Congress in an Art and Poetry
exhibition adjacent to the exhibition hall.

Seong Jin Jo (Seoul, Republic of Korea)presented in the androgenetic alopecia and hair
restoration concurrent session his quest to find
why androgenetic alopecia patients react
differently to 5α-reductase inhibitors. To
answer this question, he searched for exonic
variants which might be associated withresponse to dutasteride. A total of three genes
were found to be associated with response todutasteride, including CYP51A1, DHRS9 andCYP4F11.
Sponsored Scientific Symposia
There were 5 sponsored science symposia
from Kao, J&J, P&G (x2) and Unilever. Topics
ranged from an update on Minoxidil in the J&J
session in which Ulrike Blume-Peytavi andParadi Mirmirani described recent clinical

Alopecia UK brought Daniel to the Congress
following his successful 'Uncovered' exhibitionin London last year. Daniel was keen to present
images of people with Alopecia to the scientists
and clinicians at the congress to help delegates
understand the effects that Alopecia has on
body image.
Several Alopecia UK members with hair loss
attended and were able to describe first handtheir experiences of the condition inconversations with the delegates. In addition to
the photographs a collection of poems written
by Alopecians was displayed which explained
how it felt to have Alopecia.

The exhibition and the involvement of thosewith Alopecia added a great deal to thecongress and the experiences of the delegates.

a traditional Scottish ceilidh, full with joy, music
and dancing.

Posters
For the first time, all accepted abstracts were
presented as posters with 67 also presented
during the concurrent sessions. This made for avery comprehensive poster session which wassited alongside the exhibitors who were showcasing their products and technologies to thedelegates.
Future WCHR
During the closing ceremony, Won-Soo Lee
warmly invited the attendees to come to the 8thWorld Congress for Hair Research, which willtake place in Jeju Island, Republic of Korea,
May 14-17, 2014. In addition to a very
promising scientific program, Jeju Island offers
wonderful sights and scenes, which will surely
make this conference a great experience for all
attendants.

Summary
The meeting was concluded by Andrew
Messenger, who thanked his enthusiastic teamand especially Gill Westgate and Valerie
Randall (the WCHR scientific chair), Meeting
Makers and the organizing and international
scientific committees. He further emphasized
the importance of the sponsoring companies
that contributed to the success of this meeting.

Social Events
In addition to the wonderful opening ceremonyin the historic surroundings of Edinburgh
Castle, the attendees were invited to theCongress Dinner, which took place in "OurDynamic Earth", a place which takes you to amagnificent journey through the past, present
and future of our planet. Dinner was followed by

The data presented at the 7th World Congressfor Hair Research highlighted the rapidly
advancing field of hair research. Recent
developments in genetic testing have led to arevolution in our understanding of hairdiseases, and it would be interesting to seehow these genetic findings will be integrated
diagnostically and therapeutically. The next
WCHR meeting promises to galvanize the field
once again and we are looking forward tomeeting you in Jeju Island next year.
Publication of Abstracts
All abstracts presented in the 7th WCHR are
available in the Journal of Investigative
Dermatology, volume 133, issue number 5,
pages 1391-1439.

Prize Winners
Jurgen Schweizer Award for best basic science
presentation
Sponsored by L’Oreal UK
L Petukhova. Columbia University, New York, USA.
Functional genomics and targeted next generation
sequencing points to ULBP6 as a critical node in
the NKG2D axis in alopecia areata.

Oral and Poster prizes

Prizes kindly sponsored by Leo Pharma
Best Presentations
K Poterlowicz, Centre for Skin Sciences, Universityof Bradford, UK. Global genome analysis of Lhx2
target genes in hair follicle stem cells and theirprogenies reveals the non-random distribution andtopological associations with functionally related
gene loci
C Clavel. Developmental & Regeneration Biology,
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA
Reprogramming regular skin fibroblasts into hairinducing dermal papilla cells
Poster Prizes
T Nakajima, Osaka University, Suita, Japan. Roles
of MED1 in quiescence of hair follicle stem cells andmaintenance of normal hair cycling
EH Wang, Dermatology and Skin Science,
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Identification of autoantigen epitopes in alopecia
areataK Matsushima, Saravio Central Inst., Saravio
Cosmetics Ltd., Beppu, Japan. Primary cilia–
mediated cellular signaling in dermal papilla cells
A de Jong, Dermatology, Columbia University, New
York, United States. Next generation T cell receptor
sequencing for the identification and monitoring ofpathogenic T cells in Alopecia Areata
T Lovewell, Infection and Immunity, University of
Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom. The effect ofAIRE -207 polymorphism on AIRE transcriptional
activity highlights the potential role of AIRE in thepathogenesis of alopecia areata
SJ Jo, Department of Dermatology, Seoul National
University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Genetic variations associated with efficacy ofdutasteride, the dual 5a-reductase inhibitor in thetreatment of male pattern hair loss.
X Wu, Aderans Research Institute, Inc., Marietta,
United States. Full-thickness skin with mature andcycling hair follicles using tissue culture expanded
human cells

Congratulations to all the winners.