Grant: Operating Grant

Alopecia areata (AA), defined as a non-scarring autoimmune hair loss disease, has a serious impact on the quality of life for AA patients worldwide. It is well established that infiltrated immune cells, known as CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes, target the hair follicles of AA patients. Various therapeutic regimens are currently used for the treatment of AA; however, none of them can prevent or cure the disease. Our preliminary results generated from an AA mouse model revealed that none of the mice received skin cells producing an immunosuppressive factor known as IDO developed AA while 80% of control animals developed extensive AA within 8-16 weeks after transplantation of AA affected skin. Here we hypothesize that IDO expressing skin cell therapy can prevent the progression of AA by suppressing the CD4+ and CD8+ cells attacking hair follicles. To address this hypothesis, we will test 4 different objectives through which 1) The potential role of skin cell therapy not only in prevention but also in progression of AA in those patients who already suffer from this disease will be evaluated, 2) The factors that affect the capacity of IDO producing fibroblast therapy in reversing the autoimmune AA disease will be tested and finally 3) The last 2 objectives will reveal the mechanism by which this cell therapy improves or even cures this disease. In conclusion, we strongly believe that, if it is proven to be true, our novel cell therapy approach would overcome the AA autoimmunity and prevent the progression of AA. Potentially this may be a long lasting, possibly permanent treatment for patients who suffer from this devastating skin disorder.