What structure is found at the base of the hair follicle, has a bulb shape, and contains living cells that will form the hair strand?

What structure is found at the base of the hair follicle, has a bulb shape, and contains living cells that will form the hair strand?

• A. Hair bulb
• B. Endocrine system
• C. Sebum
• D. Nervous system

Answer: (A)

At the base of the hair follicle, the bulb-shaped structure that contains living cells destined to become the hair strand is the hair bulb. This bulb sits over the dermal papilla and houses the hair matrix, a group of rapidly dividing cells that produce the keratin and other components that form the hair shaft and the inner root sheath. The matrix cells receive nutrients from the blood vessels in the dermal papilla, fueling growth during the active anagen phase. Other options don’t fit because the endocrine system involves hormones that regulate growth but isn’t the site where the hair itself is formed; sebum is just the oily secretion from sebaceous glands that lubricates hair; the nervous system provides sensation and innervation, not the living cellular source for hair formation.

At the base of the hair follicle, the bulb-shaped structure that contains living cells destined to become the hair strand is the hair bulb. This bulb sits over the dermal papilla and houses the hair matrix, a group of rapidly dividing cells that produce the keratin and other components that form the hair shaft and the inner root sheath. The matrix cells receive nutrients from the blood vessels in the dermal papilla, fueling growth during the active anagen phase.

Other options don’t fit because the endocrine system involves hormones that regulate growth but isn’t the site where the hair itself is formed; sebum is just the oily secretion from sebaceous glands that lubricates hair; the nervous system provides sensation and innervation, not the living cellular source for hair formation.