We all know what comes with age, those stubborn gray hairs. But it’s not only age that causes those gray hairs to pop out. They are actually signs of stress, it is only stress on the cellular level.

The scientists discovered that the type of genotoxic stress that causes damage to our DNA depletes the MSCs in the hair follicles that make the pigment-producing melanocytes.

When they are exposed to the stress, these MSCs differentiate into melanocytes themselves, rather than just dying off.

the researchers said that anything we can do to limit the genotoxic stress may also help stop the graying from taking place.

The DNA in cells in under constant attack by exogenously and endogenously arising DNA-damaging agents such as mutagenic chemicals, ultraviolet light, and ionizing radiation.

It is estimated that a single cell in mammals can encounter approximately 100,000 DNA damaging events per day.

Once stem cells are damaged irreversibly, the damaged stem cells need to be eliminated to maintain the quality of the stem cell pools.

We found that excessive genotoxic stress triggers differentiation of melanocyte stem cells.

It turns out that the specialized stem cells are not only lost, they also differentiate into fully committed pigment cells that are not in the right place.