Oxidative damage control in a human (mini-) organ: Nrf2 activation protects against oxidative stress-induced hair growth inhibition. Homo sapiens

The in situ control of redox insult in human organs is of major clinical relevance, yet remains incompletely understood. Activation of Nrf2, the “master regulator” of genes controlling cellular redox homeostasis, is advocated as a therapeutic strategy for diseases with severely impaired redox balance. Yet it remains to be shown whether this strategy is effective in human organs, rather than isolated human cell types. We have therefore explored the role of Nrf2 in a uniquely accessible human (mini-) organ, human scalp hair follicles (HFs), by Microarray analysis of human HFs treated with 20uM sulforaphane for 24hr. Overall design: Nrf2 induced gene expression changes in human HFs was measured at 24 hours after exposure to 20uM Sulforaphane. HFs from 3 different donors was treated independently with 20uM Sulforaphane and vehicle control.