How could immune defense be a problem when you are using your own cells?Well the problem with mice study is that the mice is used have modified genes, like no immune defense and things like that, then you can do almost anything do a mouse and things will happen.
But since humans have immune defense, then its quite hard to work around. Because the immune defense does what it can do remove what attacks the body, the body even starts to compensate for on going treatments. That is why its more interesting to see long term treatments and clinical trails, so we know if the body starts to fight and compensate for the treatment.
And when overcome the immune defense problem, then there is the blood flow, will humans be able to re-create that blood flow?
Many here have big dreams about high density hair, and it have shown that if you just re-create high density hair again, then it will die out because of the lack of blood flow.
I'm all in for RIKEN way to move forward.
But i'm simply more interested in the long term, and if they actually can make it work, this is also why i'm more of a fan boy to the Replicel approach with regeneration. To me that seems to be more approachable, than doing maybe 10.000 nylon strings into the scalp and hope for the best in the long term.
But let us see how it goes with RIKEN, and their first proof of concept in humans, or their first phase 1. Would be great with a 24 months study or more.
Mice used don't have modified genes, they modify them to undestand their relation with diseases, but this is not the case.
Again, no immune defense problem to overcome as long as you are using your own cells.
Blood flow doesen't seem to be a problem in hair transplants, not even in crazy Zarev's 12k+ FU
That's not the reason that treatments are not consistent between mice and humans, it's because mouse models are constructed to replicate the expression of single genes or symptoms and then to test for the efficacy of that single thing.
When this translates to humans, that single thing might not be sufficient to reverse the condition alone or the targeting of that single thing might not be achievable without toxic or unintended downstream effects.
These are some reasons why treatments don't work when tried on mice, but this does not deny that every treatment tried on mice doesen't have to fight with miniaturization and down regolated wnt pathway etc. caused by Androgenetic Alopecia which, i repeat once again, is a non existent condition in mice.
Just imagine trying to grow hair in a human without the disease!