Interleukin (IL)-1 has been shown to be a potent inhibitor of hair growth in vitro. We hypothesized that this cytokine might be a decisive factor causing hair loss during the lymphocytic attack in alopecia areata. Neither the intracellular pathways involved in hair growth inhibition mediated by IL-1beta nor the signal transduction processes within hair follicles in general are known. We therefore investigated the intracellular signals involved in human hair growth in vitro. Hair follicles were isolated from scalp biopsies by microdissection, and hair growth was measured daily by image analysis. We assessed intracellular signal transducing elements using specific inhibitors or activators either alone or in combination with IL-1beta. The calcium ionophore A 23187 induced a rapid and complete arrest of hair growth, and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA), genistein, or IL-1beta decreased hair growth by approximately 60%-80%. IL-1beta-elicited hair growth arrest was not antagonized by calphostin C, a specific inhibitor of protein kinase C. In contrast, coincubation of IL-1beta with pertussis toxin or H 1004 neutralized the effect of IL-1beta, and dibutyryl-cAMP and cholera toxin, an activator of adenylate cyclase, inhibited hair growth. These data suggest that cAMP acts as a second messenger for IL-1beta-induced inhibition of hair growth. Moreover, our data indicate that in vitro hair growth is dependent on intracellular Ca2+ levels and activation of tyrosine kinase as well as protein kinase C. We were unable to detect a signal transducing element responsible for enhanced hair growth in vitro.