Over-expression of thymosin beta 4 promotes abnormal tooth development and stimulation of hair growth.

Int J Dev Biol. 2010;54(1):135-40.
Over-expression of thymosin beta 4 promotes abnormal tooth development and stimulation of hair growth.

Cha HJ, Philp D, Lee SH, Moon HS, Kleinman HK, Nakamura T.

Department of Parasitology and Genetics, College of Medicine, Kosin University, Busan, South Korea. hcha@kosin.ac.kr

Thymosin beta 4 has multi-functional roles in cell physiology. It accelerates wound healing, hair growth and angiogenesis, and increases laminin-5 expression in corneal epithelium. Furthermore, thymosin beta 4 stimulates tumor growth and metastasis by induction of cell migration and vascular endothelial growth factor-mediated angiogenesis. Using a construct on the skin-specific keratin-5 promoter, we have developed thymosin beta 4 over-expressing transgenic mice to further study its functional roles. Thymosin beta 4 in adult skin and in embryonic stages of the transgenic mouse was analyzed by both Western blot and immunohistochemistry. The over-expression of thymosin beta 4 was observed especially around hair follicles and in the teeth in the transgenic mice. We examined the phenotype of the thymosin beta 4 over-expressing mice. Hair growth was accelerated. In addition, the transgenic mice had abnormally-shaped white teeth and dull incisors. We found that the expression of laminin-5 was up-regulated in the skin of the transgenic mice. We conclude that thymosin beta 4 has an important physiological role in hair growth and in tooth development.

CS - Is a TB4 topical safe to use?

hopeful19 - It is safe to use? So far there are no studies that have confirmed it yet, however there is an up and coming Phase I clinical trial on the way, it will be delivered as a drug of course, I believe it's to prevent myocardial infarction (heart attack).

The previous study listed shows what happens if the body were to be switched in a drug like fashion, (on or off), instead of physiologically dependent. In the following study TB4 is found in saliva and tears.

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007 Sep;1112:458-65. Epub 2007 Jun 28.
Identification and quantification of thymosin beta4 in human saliva and tears.

Badamchian M, Damavandy AA, Damavandy H, Wadhwa SD, Katz B, Goldstein AL.

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The George Washington University, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2300 Eye Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20037, USA. mbadam@gwu.edu

Thymosin beta(4) (Tbeta(4)) is a ubiquitous, naturally occurring, 43-amino acid peptide that takes part in several biological activities including angiogenesis, inhibition of inflammation, wound healing, chemotaxis, and endothelial cell migration. Recent studies also indicate that Tbeta(4) accelerates corneal wound healing and downregulates several proinflamatory chemokines and cytokines. In this study, we sought to determine whether Tbeta(4) is naturally occurring in human tears and other human bodily fluids, such as saliva. Tear and saliva samples were analyzed by EIA to identify and quantify the amount of Tbeta(4) present. Around 10-20 samples were collected from each of three different age groups: 15-20, 25-35, and >50 years old with n = 30 and n = 60 for tears and saliva, respectively. Exclusion criteria included the use of any topical ophthalmic or topical oral medication and/or history of ocular or oral surgery within the past 6 months. Tears were collected from both eyes using Schirmer's strips. Saliva samples were collected in sterile tubes and were then centrifuged to remove solid particles. Tbeta(4) was found in tear and saliva samples in all age groups. The concentrations ranged from 0.5-7 mug/mL in tears and 0.2-3.6 mug/mL in saliva. In both fluids, Tbeta(4) concentration varied with age and appeared to peak at ages 25-35 years. Studies are in progress to determine if Tbeta(4) levels in saliva and tears demonstrate a circadian rhythm during a 24-h period, as well as to confirm that they vary with age and to explore if they vary with diseased states. This is the first study to report the presence of Tbeta(4) in human tears and saliva. This finding raises the possibility that Tbeta(4) acts as an endogenous agent contributing to the rapid healing of corneal and oral wounds. Considering that Tbeta(4) facilitates reepithelialization and modulates anti-inflammatory mediators, Tbeta(4) could potentially be used therapeutically in the treatment of (a) ocular surface disease and injury of eye and (b) various oral disorders, such as periodontal disease.

CS do you think this is of any importance?

Thymosin beta4 is released from human blood platelets and attached by factor XIIIa (transglutaminase) to fibrin and collagen.

Huff T, Otto AM, Müller CS, Meier M, Hannappel E.

Institute of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany. thymosin@biochem.uni-erlangen.de

The beta-thymosins constitute a family of highly conserved and extremely water-soluble 5 kDa polypeptides. Thymosin beta4 is the most abundant member; it is expressed in most cell types and is regarded as the main intracellular G-actin sequestering peptide. There is increasing evidence for extracellular functions of thymosin beta4. For example, thymosin beta4 increases the rate of attachment and spreading of endothelial cells on matrix components and stimulates the migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Here we show that thymosin beta4 can be cross-linked to proteins such as fibrin and collagen by tissue transglutaminase. Thymosin beta4 is not cross-linked to many other proteins and its cross-linking to fibrin is competed by another family member, thymosin beta10. After activation of human platelets with thrombin, thymosin beta4 is released and cross-linked to fibrin in a time- and calcium-dependent manner. We suggest that thymosin beta4 cross-linking is mediated by factor XIIIa, a transglutaminase that is coreleased from stimulated platelets. This provides a mechanism to increase the local concentration of thymosin beta4 near sites of clots and tissue damage, where it may contribute to wound healing, angiogenesis and inflammatory responses.

Prague - Nice find here! Platelet therapy seems to work for hair loss, and perhaps this is one of the reasons.

Here's a place in Toronto that does platelet therapy for hair loss. http://www.torontohairlossclinic.com/prp-hair-restoration.php

sorry to bump this, but thymosins in general downregulate inflammation which then lets your body takeover and regenerate whatever tissue it's near. This is pretty much how baldness can be reversed which means that there is no such thing as a point of no return.

It actually looks very promising....how can confirm that is safe for use?

Steve_Gr wrote:It actually looks very promising....how can confirm that is safe for use?

/pubmed/20536472

Synthetic Tbeta4 given intravenously as a single dose or in multiple daily doses for 14 days over a dose range of 42-1260 mg was well tolerated with no evidence of dose limiting toxicity. Further development for use in cardiac ischemia should be considered.

that's a lot of mg! Most bodybuilders use less and they claim zero side effects.

that's a lot of mg! Most bodybuilders use less and they claim zero side effects.

Moby- Why are bodybuilders using this drug?

If you want to incorporate Thymosin Beta-4 inexpensively, just take Bovine Colostrum. I took it for a period to
boost my thymic function.

tonyj wrote:
Moby- Why are bodybuilders using this drug?

increases endurance, increases lean muscle mass, heals injuries, reduces pain... etc

A lot of people are reporting benefits to their hair even though the injections are made not even close to the scalp

CausticSymmetry wrote:If you want to incorporate Thymosin Beta-4 inexpensively, just take ??? I took it for a period to
boost my thymic function.

why not just make direct thymosin injections to your scalp? Thymosin is naturally occuring anyways. What are the possible harms?
Another stupid question: what makes your hair grow and thicken during puberty?

moby wrote:

CausticSymmetry wrote:If you want to incorporate Thymosin Beta-4 inexpensively, just take ??? I took it for a period to
boost my thymic function.

why not just make direct thymosin injections to your scalp? Thymosin is naturally occuring anyways. What are the possible harms?
Another stupid question: what makes your hair grow and thicken during puberty?

Because it's the function of the thymus gland its effect on other systems as a whole that ultimately influence the hair.

see I'm only asking because we pretty much know what causes MPB and how we can fix it or at least delay it but we have ABSOLUTELY NO TOOLS to regrow lost hair.

Would it make sense to start injecting thymosin into your scalp?

Not sure why the emphatically unequivocal assertion, stated as if implying knowledge of fact---Not true that we have "ABSOLUTELY NO TOOLS" to regrow lost hair. The original Zix formulation, as I've posted before, regrows TERMINAL hair, and not only on bald spot/top of head, but in frontal hairline, and to an unmistakably cosmetically significant degree. I have experienced this myself, and I'm far from the only one. You can purchase the active ingredients easily online, from any number of places, and I've found the p-5-p b6 even in Vitamin Shoppe in Boston.

Here's the original formula:

4 ounces DISTILLED water (not spring water, not Aquafina, not tap water, etc..)

120-150 mg. vitamin b-6 (very important: must be pyridoxal-5-phosphate form, NOT pyridoxine form)

50 mg. zinc sulfate (not any other form of zinc)

Here's what I've always done, which has always worked: empty out a small Aquafina bottle, and let it dry out, overnight or whatever. (don't drink from it--you want it to remain as sterile as possible) (Also; I just went with the closest smallish, convenient liquids container that occurred to me would be closest to sterile, and stuck with it.)

Then, measure out 1/2 cup distilled water (NO tap water in measuring cup, left over from washing or whatever) and pour it in the Aquafina bottle. (I use a funnel to make it easier.)

Then, (on CLEAN surface, of course), crush the vitamin b-6 tablets, into a powder, BUT don't obsess over making it totally into fine powder or anything--just make sure it's not made up of big chunks.

Then just dump the powder into the bottle with the distilled water already in it, then empty out one zinc sulfate capsule that contains 50 mg. of zinc sulfate, into the bottle with it, and shake it up a little.

THEN: (very important): Apply this to a *freshly washed* (say within 20 minutes) AND *dry* scalp. Apply it all over balding areas, and any areas you anticipate any further loss (shampoo is NOT that important...I personally just avoid the harshest ingredient I know of, sodium lauryl sulfate...ammonium laureth sulfate is in some of the stuff I use, and it's never stopped regrowth.)

Apply it every day like this, and give it at least 6 months before you expect to even see anything in terms of results, and then keep in mind that full results may not come until as much as 2 or 3 years in. (But you might even start seeing something around the 4th month, as I did.) Try not to miss days, especially consecutively, *but*, do NOT fall into the trap of letting that make you think you've just erased all your progress, and stop! Keep going!

I can also say that I personally seem to get the best/fastest results when I apply it twice per day, *both* times soon after washing hair. But you may not need wash hair twice per day like I do.

Also, for those who think this is a lot of work, etc...take heart: realize that it will become automatic, realize things get much easier with habit..not to mention: you'll of course get very efficient at applying it, especially as you see results and gain momentum.

And, remember that as your scalp recovers slowly, and you get closer to a maintenance situation, you will be able to cut down on the frequency of application. *Especially as you incorporate improved nutrient intake (whole foods, the IH top 6, etc), which really works hugely in synergy with this stuff, and will probably allow you to drop Zix altogether, once you only need maintenance*.

But that's how it's done. You basically respect "the nature of the game" (as we do in poker, etc), you understand and respect that it's a long process, and put in the time.

And I just apply it with a dropper (I use an empty Iosol iodine dropper) (which I washed out with boiling distilled water of course, lol).

ALSO, VERY VERY IMPORTANT: DO NOT ADD OTHER INGREDIENTS TO THIS FORMULA. DO NOT STOP USING DISTILLED WATER. DO NOT APPLY IT ON TOP OF OTHER TOPICALS, AND,MOST ESPECIALLY, DO *NOT* APPLY WITH COPPER PEPTIDE FORMULAS.

Then, just *make sure to keep it in a pretty dark place, that's not really hot*. (I just stick it in a dark sock, and keep it in a bureau drawer (yeah...lolz..)

If you want to make more of it at one time, of course just multiply all the ingredients proportionately, and stick it in the fridge if you're not gonna use it within about a week. (It'll keep probably about another week in the fridge.)

Also, there's a lot of evidence that localized hypoxia induction/circulation techniques (vigorous rubbing of scalp/balding areas with a towel/vigorous brushing/scratching with fingernails, *for brief periods of time*), really do work to actually regrow terminal hair as well. I would really experiment here, and stick to at least one form or another of this, even if it changes/evolves as you go along.

And these approaches work in synergy with addressing nutritional issues. But here, I wanted to address actual re-growth, of terminal hair.

ZX42 is just overpriced minoxidil

Um....moby? --Did you even read one fifth of my post? Your reply does not have even anything remotely close to do with what I not only explicitly named, but then painstakingly spelled out the exact ingredients of. Just so there's no possible mistake here: Once again: I was talking about *Zix*, and NOT "ZX42", and NOT Minoxidil, in any form, what so ever!

I'm completely against Minoxidil, in any form. Zix is NOT Minoxidil. Zix is NOT ZX42. Zix is zinc sulfate and pyridoxal-5-phoshate version of vitamin b-6, dissolved in distilled water. And it works far, far better than minox. could ever hope to work.

if thymosin is produced naturally in the body, why doesn't it repair MPB damage automatically?