DDX5, a type of RNA helicase, plays various roles in cells and is involved in processes related with RNA processing. It is also associated with signal transduction pathways that are important in the hair biology, such as intranuclear transport of β-c...
DDX5, a type of RNA helicase, plays various roles in cells and is involved in processes related with RNA processing. It is also associated with signal transduction pathways that are important in the hair biology, such as intranuclear transport of β-catenin, and mediates interaction between androgen receptor and dihydrotestosterone. However, the role of DDX5 in intact dermal papilla (DP) cells is questionable. In this study, we confirmed that siRNA-mediated knockdown of DDX5 inhibited the growth of DP cells. Results of cell proliferation assays revealed that the decrease in DDX5 expression reduced the nuclear translocation of β-catenin. We also observed that knockdown of DDX5 inhibited expression of target genes of β-catenin at the RNA level; the decrease in cyclin D1 expression affected cell cycle progression, as demonstrated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. In addition, we showed that DDX5 plays different roles in frontal and occipital DP cells through a Wnt3a response experiment. Further studies will help us understand the mechanism of frontal hair loss in androgenetic alopecia and develop therapeutic agents to overcome hair loss.