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Anagen hair growth cycles become progressively shorter in men with male pattern baldness. Interfering with this premature termination of hair growth could conserve terminal hairs and mitigate balding. The anagen-to-catagen transition involves androgen-inducible transforming growth factors β1 and β2, but other androgen-related actions may also be at work. Recently, higher-than-normal levels of androgen-inducible Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) protein have been found in biopsies of scalp skin in male pattern alopecia. DKK-1 inhibits the Wnt signaling pathway and, consequently, stem cell division. Stem cells generate hair and also produce the elongated hair follicles of the anagen phase. In the anagen-to-catagen transition, stem cells stop replenishing ap…