Abstract

Once considered a taboo, mental health is a trending health topic now days and is considered one of the crucial aspects of good health. Neuroscience and medical advances can be credited for busting the longstanding myths and dogmas associated with brain health. Stress is one of the most common factors that affect the mental well being and has been long associated with graying in human beings, however without any significant medical or scientific proof. Here, we describe this concept of premature aging that has intrigued researchers for a long time. A recent study provided evidence in favor of the stress based theory of aging. Mouse was used as a model organism to study how acute stress leads to hair graying. A combination of denervation, chemogenetics, cell ablation, adrenalectomy and knockout of the adrenergic receptor specifically in melanocyte stem cells was used to check potential targets. After eliminating different possibilities it was confirmed that acute stress leads to the activation of the sympathetic nervous system which in turn causes permanent damage to tissue regeneration via nonreversible depletion of melanocyte stem cells (MeSCs) residing in the bulge and hair germ region of the follicle which are mainly responsible for the regeneration of pigmented hair.

Keywords: Stress; graying; aging; melanocyte stem cells (MeSCs); sympathetic nervous system.
*E-Mail: shripriyasingh@gmail.com

To cite this article: Singh S; Worries make you look older: unraveling the science that connects stress with
graying in human beings, Biotechnology Kiosk, Vol 2, Issue 5, PP: 18-23 (2020); DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37756/bk.20.2.5.3