Stem Cells from Hair

In this article, a team of researchers at the University of Maryland have discovered that a subtype of stem cells in hair follicles may be able to regenerate myelin sheath. Two groups of stem cells were first identified in the hair follicles and then were separated if they were either coated in glycoprotein CD34 or not. After harvesting the stem cells from mice hair follicles, the two separate stem cell groups were colonized, with the CD34 colony turning into glial cells. The team also discovered that these glial cells can repair myelin sheath when they are placed into mice that have a genetic defect that prevents the mice from forming myelin sheaths.

This is an amazing discovery, and I hope that humans possess these same stem cell features in hair follicles. In their study, however, I wonder if the stem cells can actually repair degrading myelin sheaths in patients with Multiple Sclerosis. It seems that they only tested the stem cells in mice who already could not form myelin sheaths, but how would it work in a patient where their myelin sheaths are constantly under attack?