Preclinical models to evaluate hair and scalp aging and longevity

A private company is seeking an advanced screening system or model with medium to high-throughput capabilities to evaluate the anti-aging potential of various botanicals, natural ingredients, and pharmaceutical references on hair and scalp health. The desired platform should be capable of assessing markers related to cellular aging, senescence, and longevity through various mechanisms such as enzymatic inhibition, receptor interference, activity reduction, and gene expression modulation. Furthermore, the platform should include measurements of mitochondrial functions, specifically focusing on mitochondrial activity or reduction in mitochondrial potential, as key outputs.

 Solutions of interest:

• Identification of novel biochemical and transcriptional markers of aging
• Models that evaluate hair follicle health and proliferation
• In vitro or ex vivo models (e.g., HaCaT keratinocytes, dermal papilla cells, dermal fibroblasts, endothelial cells, or ex vivo human hair follicle cultures) to assess hair follicle aging and longevity
• Models that monitor signaling pathways such as WNT (Axin-2, Lef-1, Lgr-6), SHH, and Nrf2, as well as nuclear localization of β-catenin, as an indicator of Senescence in dermal papilla cells (DPCs)
• Assays detecting DNA damage or stress markers, such as heat shock protein 27 (HSP-27), superoxide dismutase (SOD) catalase, ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated kinase (ATM), and ATMand Rad3-related protein
• Models measuring mitochondrial health, glutathione (GSH), taurine metabolism, and mitophagy-related gene expression (e.g., Phb2, Lc3, Becn1)
• Benchmarking models using known senescence-inhibiting pharmaceuticals such as Rapamycin, Dasatinib, or Navitoclax
• Cell chip systems, including microfluidic platforms and lab-on-a-chip technologies

Must-have requirements:

• Capable of medium to high throughput screening for the effects of botanicals or pharmaceuticals via in vitro, cell-based, ex vivo, or biopsy-based systems focused on cellular aging, longevity and cellular health models
• Accommodates a diverse range of chemicals, extracts, and compounds, with tolerance for complex mixtures, differing solubility, and cytotoxicity
• Validated model/s

What's out of scope:

• Animal or animal-derived models or systems
• Methodologies/models requiring major developments (over 2-3 months)