Category Archives: Adipose-Derived Stem Cells (ADSC)

Adipose-Derived Stem Cells (ADSC), Cell Therapy, Dermal Papilla Cells, Dermal Sheath Cup Cells, Hair Regeneration

Effective Cell Therapy for Hair Regeneration

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Update: June 8, 2026

More new Papers from Jong-Hyuk Sung

Epibiotech’s CEO and prolific hair loss researcher Jong-Hyuk Sung has co-authored two new major papers in recent months:

Update: Epibiotech CEO Sung (who is the author of the new 2022 paper covered in this post) is answering our questions in the comments this week. Please note that English is not his first language. Q & A has now ended.

November 25, 2022

Effective cell Therapy for Hair Regeneration

Earlier this month, Epibiotech CEO Jong-Hyuk Sung published a detailed new paper titled “Effective and economical cell therapy for hair regeneration.” It was widely covered in South Korean media (h/t “Theo”, who also sent me this update on Mr. Sung’s presentation covering the paper). They call him Seong Jong-Hyeok in that article.

My interest piqued when I read such a thorough scientific paper from a CEO. Almost unheard of in the western world. I showed it to a well known US hair transplant doctor, and he found it to be a great summary.

Adipose-Derived Stem Cells, Dermal Papilla Cells and Dermal Sheath Cup Cells

Note that Dr. Sung has published numerous papers on adipose-derived stem cells and hair regeneration (and wound healing) for 15 years. This CEO seems to be a scientist first and foremost, rather than a business person.

This latest paper covers the three main types of cell based hair regeneration treatment strategies that are currently being developed:

  1. Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC or ASC).
  2. Dermal papilla cells (DPC).
  3. Dermal papilla epithelial cup cells, better known as dermal sheath cup cells (DPSC or DSC).

The paper also mentions the manufacturing of hair organoids using induced pluripotent stem cells. Including a shout out to Dr. Takashi Tsuji.

  • Note that Shiseido (including its use of Replicel’s technology) now offers a hair regeneration treatment involving culturing of dermal sheath cup cells.
  • Also note that in the past, Aderans and Intercytex both saw some success in hair growth via dermal papilla cell culturing and injection into balding scalps. HairClone is currently trying something similar.

Dr. Sung’s company Epibiotech is ultimately driven by “Off-the-shelf” allogeneic DPC therapy. It aims to begin Phase 1 clinical trials for its EPI-001 dermal papilla cell hair multiplication treatment in 2023. We are all hopeful that things will move faster in Asia in comparison to the US or Western Europe. The company can already mass-produce dermal papilla cells with hair growth ability using spheroid culture, hypoxic conditions, and growth factors.

Cell Therapy Hair Growth
Cell therapy for hair growth. Adipose, dermal papilla and dermal sheath cup cells. Source: Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, January 2023.

Adipose Derived Stem Cells

Given the author’s background, the paper is especially detailed when it comes to ADSC (ASC). Dr. Sung highlights the pros and cons.

    • Adipose-derived stem cells are easy to access and isolate in large quantities. This is not true when it comes to dermal papilla cells and dermal sheath cup cells.
    • While ASCs promote hair growth through the paracrine effect, they have a poor potential in hair neogenesis. Dr. Sung suggests further development in methods to enhance the trichogenecity of ASCs.

Other New Recent Studies on Hair Regeneration

As if this was not enough, two new papers on hair regeneration came out in the past month.

  • A literature review from Japan covers numerous cell therapies for hair regrowth. This includes mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) implantation. Adult sources of MSC include: adipose tissue (including SVF); bone marrow; DPC; DSC; placenta and umbilical cord. The paper also analyzes non-cell therapies, including exosomes, extracellular matrix, platelet-rich plasma, and the MSC secretome. The last mentioned “comprises bioactive materials, such as growth factors, cytokines and nucleic acids that play an important role in regulating the hair follicle cycle and regeneration”.
  • A new study from China on microenvironmental reprogramming of human dermal papilla cells for hair follicle tissue engineering.
Adipose-Derived Stem Cells (ADSC)

Adipose-Derived Stem Cells and Hair Growth

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Adipose-Derived Stem Cells and Hair Growth
Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and Hair Growth. Comprehensive diagram of pathways and mechanism of action. Source: Stem Cell Research & Therapy.

Update: August 10, 2025

An excellent new paper from China has just been published. It covers the latest research and developments in adipose-derived stem cells (and their derivatives) in the treatment of hair loss. Per the paper’s main breakouts, ADSCs impact hair growth via:

  1. Regulating the hair follicle cycle.
  2. Anti-inflammatory effects.
  3. Antioxidant effects.
  4. Neovascularization (improved blood flow) effects, primarily from growth factors such as VEGF.

The paper also breaks out ADSCs and their derivatives, which have all been used for hair growth purposes.

April 3, 2015

Stem Cells

The human stem cell is one of nature’s most impressive creations. These super building blocks of life can differentiate into various other specialized cells or into yet other identical stem cells. If they remain in an undifferentiated state, stem cells still go through numerous cycles of cell division.

There are two main types of stem cells:

  1. Embryonic stem cells that are derived from human embryos. These cells are pluripotent.
  2. Adult stem cells that are derived from living adults. These cells are multipotent.

The latter are significantly less controversial than the former when it comes to medical research. Adult stem cells (also called somatic stem cells) are further divided into three main types based on source:

  1. Bone Marrow (requiring extraction from a bone).
  2. Adipose Tissue (i.e., lipid or fat cells, requiring extraction via liposuction). We call these adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs).
  3. Blood (requiring extraction via a blood draw).

Adipose-Derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) and Hair Growth

Adipose-derived stem cells are the focus of this post, since they have been the subject of numerous research papers in the hair growth field. Note that stromal vascular fraction that contains some ADSCs is also being used for hair growth purposes.

One can find summaries of a multitude of papers related to ADSCs and hair on PubMed. ADSCs are classified as mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs). For example, I found this 2012 paper from Japan quite interesting and encouraging due to its findings that ADSC condition medium resulted in hair growth in all 25 test patients.

However, when I first read it, I assumed that these results were most likely just a modest improvement over those from PRP. But a number of new studies lead me to believe that ADSCs just might be superior to PRP in regrowing hair. It also makes intuitive sense that stem cells would give better results than just plasma.

The latest of these studies just came out a week ago and is a must read. This one is yet again from Japan. Both this 2015 study and the one that I posted earlier in this post from 2012 have the same two lead authors: Dr. Hirotaro Fukuoka and Dr. Hirotaka Suga. These two doctors are conducting their work at the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Kyorin University in Tokyo, Japan.

The conclusion of this latest study is worth quoting:

Treatment using adipose-derived stem cell-conditioned medium appears highly effective for alopecia and may represent a new therapy for hair regeneration.

ADSCs contain a number of growth factors that are beneficial to hair growth:

Adipose-derived stem cell-conditioned medium is rich in growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1).