Methyl Vanillate, Wnt/Beta-Catenin

Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin Pathway

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I have discussed the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and Wnt signaling numerous times on this blog in the past. This avenue of research is one of the most exciting ones in the hair loss world. It does not involve any kind of complicated cell multiplication and implantation type procedure.

If realized, the cure or treatment for hair loss that will arise from activating the Wnt signaling pathway (and subsequently maintaining the epithelial β-catenin signaling) will likely come from a topical product. A 2022 study from South Korea summarized the molecular mechanism behind various natural hair loss products that activate the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Of note, defects in the workings of the Wnt pathway are implicated in numerous diseases and medical conditions. Therefore, there are numerous scientists around the world who are studying this important subject matter for non-alopecia related reasons.

Wnt/β-catenin Pathway Signaling and Hair Loss

  • By far the most well known company that is currently working on a topical hair loss drug via activating the Wnt pathway is Samumed. We eagerly await their publication of final Phase II clinical trial results and subsequent commencement of Phase III trials. I am on Samumed’s mailing list, but have received no recent updates. I am hoping it will happen any day now. Update: In 2022, Samumed (which became Biosplice) ended its work on the hair loss product. A massive disappointment.
  • In my last post, I mentioned that Dr. Antonella Tosti is presenting a paper titled “A new topical Wnt/beta-catenin activator in the treatment of men with male pattern hair loss”. I wondered what topical this would be, and commentator “Bob Ross’s Hair” hypothesized that it is methyl vanillate based on this study from 2016 in which Dr. Tosti is a co-author.
  • Related to the above, Dr. John Cole’s staff recently wrote a blog post on their new WNT Act product for sale in the US. This product contains methyl vanillate. Dr. Cole has collaborated with Dr. Tosti many times in the past and mentioned this in his interview on this blog. It seems like the Deltacrin WNT product sold in Italy is the exact same thing as the WNT Act product being sold in the US. On the US product’s Amazon page, they claim a 7% increase in hair density and a 10% increase in hair diameter.

JW Pharmaceutical

Update: July 2023 — See my new post on JW Pharmaceutical.

Commentator “Donitello” who often posts nonsense did surprise me and found a gem early last week. A South Korean company named JW Pharmaceutical (in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. George Cotsarelis) is developing a topical Wnt signal activating product to tackle hair loss.

The product is currently known as CWL08006, and the company aims to start pre-clinical trials in 2019. Apparently JW Pharma has been conducting research on the Wnt pathway since the early 2000s, and currently holds numerous patents and rights to proprietary compounds in this area.

Update: October 2022 — JW Pharma will present preclinical results of its Wnt hair loss treatment “JW0061” at the Wnt 2022 conference to be held in Japan from November 15th. Note that these results are based on animal models.

JW0061 is a substance that promotes the differentiation and proliferation of hair follicle stem cells that are involved in hair growth. It does this by activating the Wnt signaling pathway, which stops working correctly during the process of hair loss.

Update: November 2022 — Above now confirmed. JW made a presentation on its newly identified Wnt-modulating small molecule “JW0061” at the “Wnt 2022 conference. It demonstrated preclinical efficacy for hair regeneration. According to preclinical data, JW0061 activates the Wnt signaling pathway by directly binding to the GFRA1 protein in dermal papilla cells.

World Congress for Hair Research

10th World Congress for Hair Research

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The usually biennial World Congress for Hair Research is the most important conference in the world when it comes to hair loss related research. While some of the presentations at this conference always cover existing treatments (such as finasteride, hair transplants and wigs), the majority cover more futuristic technologies and research. Some presentations also entail entirely new takes upon existing technologies and research.

10th World Congress for Hair Research

Previously I covered both the 8th World Congress for Hair Research in 2014 and the 9th World Congress for Hair Research in 2015. For some reason, there was no conference in 2016. However, the 10th World Congress for Hair Research is scheduled to take place in Kyoto, Japan from October 31st 2017 through November 3rd 2017.

Moreover, just as in 2015, “Hellouser” is attending the conference and has e-mailed me that he will be posting his videos on YouTube, but still needs to raise some more funds. You can donate towards his trip here. He is regularly posting updates in this thread on HLT.

Key Presentations of Interest

As is always the case at this Congress, a who’s who of the hair loss research world is presenting. Asia based researchers are especially well represented this time around. Readers can go through the oral presentation list and see which items interest them the most. Poster presentation list is here (link no longer working).

It is hard to try to compile a list of just 10 or so items of interest as I have done in the past, since around one-third of the presentations look highly interesting. Some initial thoughts:

  • While it seems like locally based Dr. Takashi Tsuji from RIKEN is not presenting in person, another researcher (Dr. Koh-ei Toyoshima) who collaborates with Dr. Tsuji is presenting: “Basic study to clinical phase, a fully functional organ regenerative therapy for the hair follicle”.
  • Also from RIKEN, Dr. Hironobu Fujiwara will discuss “Reciprocal interactions between epidermal stem cells and their environment”.
  • The other renowned locally headquartered entity of interest, Shiseido, is very much present. Several of the company’s researchers are participating, including the respected Dr. Jiro Kishimoto.
  • Dr. Mayumi Ito will discuss something that all of us have discussed on here a lot lately: “Wound healing and hair follicle regeneration”.
  • Dr. George Cotsarelis discusses prostaglandins.
  • Dr. Bessam Farjo is one of many keynote speakers, and his lecture is titled: “A new approach to hair cell therapy: Combining medical and scientific innovation in hair ‘cloning'”.
  • Most of the topics in the “Stem Cells and the Niche” and “Tissue Engineering using Hair Follicle Cells” sections are of major relevance to this blog’s subject matter. Six of the ten presentations in these two sections are by Japanese researchers (!); three are by Korean researchers (!); and one by Germany’s Dr. Gerd Lindner who seemed to have disappeared in recent years. His presentation is titled “Bioengineering human hair follicle anlagen within a full thickness skin equivalent”.
  • Dr. Antonella Tosti has an interesting presentation titled: “A new topical WNT/beta-catenin activator in the treatment of men with male pattern hair loss”. What could that topical be?
  • A significant number of presentations concern natural products (aloe, botanicals, ginseng, green tea, Korean native plants), lasers and PRP. All these treatments are somewhat controversial, at least insofar as regrowing hair on totally bald regions of the scalp goes.
  • “Alopecia areata” and “female hair loss” are both well covered subjects, especially the former.
  • Surprisingly, while more than five presentations cover Finasteride, none covers Dutasteride, even though the latter is approved as a hair loss treatment in Japan and South Korea.