英科學家發現神奇蛋白 可讓白髮變黑
Scientists have got to the root of grey hair – paving the way for locks that retain the lustre of their youth well into old age. In a series of experiments, they have identified a protein called 'wnt' found to be vital to the production of colour in hairs. The breakthrough raises the prospects of drugs, lotions or shampoos that raise levels of wnt – and restore white or grey hair to its natural colour. Such a treatment would save women of a certain age the need to make endless expensive trips to the hair salon to have their greying roots covered up.
每天還在爲“染髮”而苦惱嗎？看着一縷一縷的白髮還在心寒麼？有常言道：“一夜白了頭”，大家都認爲焦急憂慮的情緒會催生白髮的生長速度，科學家近日發現了頭髮變白的原因：“Wnt”蛋白質在作怪，該蛋白能夠促進頭髮幹細胞發育，分泌頭髮所需的色素。據悉，當所謂的“Wnt”蛋白質捆綁頭髮內所含“黑素細胞”的時候，就會激活黑素細胞加速分裂，緊接着，黑素幹細胞會產生所謂的“子細胞”。而黑素細胞“子細胞”繼續產生黑色素，並注入頭髮之中。此外，這些“子細胞”產生黑色素的多少，跟個人基因有很大關係，這就是爲何人的頭髮會有淺黑、金髮、紅髮等多種顏色，而Wnt蛋白質的多少還和我們日常服用的藥品、頭髮上塗抹的洗頭膏以及護髮素有着緊密的關係。
It would also doubtless be popular with middle-aged men keen to recapture their youthful looks. The U.S. researchers describe a series of experiments which reveal wnt to be key to hair retaining its colour. Writing in the journal Cell, they show that the protein kick-starts a chain of reactions which lead to stem or 'mother' cells in the scalp maturing and producing the pigment that gives hair its colour. The researchers said that young women who use hydrogen peroxide-based dyes to lighten their hair should not necessarily worry. In older women though, going blonde may speed up the greying process. It is thought that genetics control if and when a person will go grey, although stress, alcohol, smoking and poor diet are all thought to accelerate the process. Most Britons spot their first grey hairs around the age of 25.
這項發現被譽爲“中老年人的福音”，爲了恢復年輕的樣貌去染髮的時代有望一去不復返哦！科學家分析，隨着人體衰老進程的加速，黑素幹細胞無法保全，發生細胞凋亡或者失去應有的功能，因而纔會導致頭髮逐漸變成灰白、白色或銀色。這個過程中，Wnt信號蛋白質可能是問題的關鍵。科學家還建議那些爲了成爲“金髮碧眼”的年輕女士們千萬別總是爲了美麗而去染髮，染髮能加速頭髮變白的趨勢。此外，壓力過大、酒精攝入量變多、以及吸菸和飲食不健康也有可能加速頭髮變白。調查還發現，英國人的“第一根白髮”的年齡爲25歲，可怕啊可怕！
