Inhibitors of proteasomal activity for stimulating hair growth

Patent Number: 7,175,994

Stimulation of dermal papillary cells for hair regrowth is an area of intense scientific interest. In the current patent, the use of proteosomal inhibition in general is claimed, along with several growth factors for stimulation of hair growth. Specifically covered growth factors are EGF, FGF, PDGF, TGF, IGF, LIF, and parathyroid hormone. This patent also covers the use of specific compositions of matter for inhibition of proteosomes.

The concurrent inhibition of proteosomes while stimulating cellular mitosis/differentiation is an interesting concept. It is known that several proteosomes are involved in activation of pathways such as NF-kB, which depending on context modulate cell survival/proliferation. It may be that the growth factors alone stimulate a specific cellular signal transduction program that is insufficient to induce proliferation through an autoinhibitory effect mediated by NF-kB. It will be interesting to treat the approach of concurrent growth factor administration with proteosomal inhibition in other types of stem cells.

View this patent on the USPTO website.