Zhang, BingMa, SaiRachmin, InbalHe, MeganBaral, PankajChoi, SekyuGonçalves, William A.Shwartz, YuliaFast, EvaSu, YiqunZon, Leonard I.Regev, AvivBuenrostro, JasonCunha, Thiago M.Chiu, Isaac M.Fisher, DavidHsu, Ya-chieh2022-08-252020-01-22Zhang, Bing, Ma, Sai, Rachmin, Inbal, He, Megan, Baral, Pankaj, Choi, Sekyu, Gonçalves, William A, Shwartz, Yulia, Fast, Eva M, Su, Yiqun, Zon, Leonard I, Regev, Aviv, Buenrostro, Jason D, Cunha, Thiago M, Chiu, Isaac M, Fisher, David E, and Hsu, Ya-Chieh. "Hyperactivation of Sympathetic Nerves Drives Melanocyte Stem Cell Depletion." Nature (London) 577, no. 7792 (2020): 676-81.0028-08361476-4687https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:373730621. Several of the authors belong to the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (both HMS and FAS), so we are subjected to the open access policy of FAS as well. I could not select both HMS and FAS on the drop-out menu. Please help us to do so (Authors that are ONLY subjected to HMS: Inbal Rachmin, Pankaj Baral, Yiqun Su, Isaac Chiu, and David Fisher. All the others are from SCRB and are subjected to both HMS and FAS) 2. I only listed Harvard-affiliated authors here. We have authors from other institutions that are not listed here since I don't think they are subjected to Harvard's open access policy. Please let me know if this is incorrect.Empirical and anecdotal evidence have associated stress with accelerated hair greying (formation of unpigmented hairs)1,2, but the scientific evidence linking the two is scant. Here, we report that acute stress leads to hair greying through fast depletion of melanocyte stem cells (MeSCs). Combining adrenalectomy, denervation, chemogenetics3,4, cell ablation, and MeSC-specific adrenergic receptor knockout, we found that stress-induced MeSC loss is independent of immune attack or adrenal stress hormones. Rather, hair greying results from activation of the sympathetic nerves that innervate the MeSC niche. Upon stress, sympathetic nerve activation leads to burst release of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which drives quiescent MeSCs into rapid proliferation, followed by differentiation, migration, and permanent depletion from the niche. Transient suppression of MeSC proliferation prevents stress-induced hair greying. Our studies demonstrate that acute stress-induced neuronal activity can drive rapid and permanent loss of somatic stem cells, and illustrate an example in which somatic stem cell maintenance is directly influenced by the overall physiological state of the organism.en-USMultidisciplinaryJournal Article2022-08-2510.1038/s41586-020-1935-3