Research Highlights

• Subject Category:
  • Genetics

Published online: 11 February 2009 | Corrected online: 11 February 2009 | doi:10.1038/nchina.2009.21

Dermatology: Hair for you too!

Felix Cheung

Introduction

© (2009) Nature Genetics

There are many reasons why people lose hair. Some are born with a rare disorder known as Marie Unna hereditary hypotrichosis (MUHH), which gives them sparse or no hair at birth. These people grow more hair during childhood, but they start losing it progressively at puberty. Xue Zhang at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College in Beijing and co-workers¹ have scanned the genome of 19 MUHH families from 10 different countries and identified gene mutations that they commonly carry.

Previous studies have already pinpointed a gene called hairless homolog (HR) that encodes a protein for hair growth. In humans, mutations in HR have been linked to genetic hair loss disorders, such as congenital atrichia. The researchers have identified 13 different MUHH-associated mutations — and they all lie within U2HR, which is located immediately adjacent to HR.

Interestingly, the researchers predict that U2HR encodes a small peptide that inhibits hairless protein production. Mutations in U2HR increase the levels of hairless protein, which should promote hair growth. However, the researchers observed the opposite effect in people with MUHH. The findings suggest that maintaining hairless protein levels within a certain range may prevent hair loss.

The authors of this work are from:
McKusick-Zhang Center for Genetic Medicine and National Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China; Research Center for Medical Genomics, China Medical University, Shenyang, China; Epithelial Genetics Group, Division of Molecular Medicine, Colleges of Life Sciences and Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK; Department of Dermatology, No. 1 Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang, China; Institute of Dermatology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China; Department of Dermatology, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany; Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany; Department of Genomics, Life and Brain Center, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany; Maastricht University Center for Molecular Dermatology, University Hospital Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands; CHUV, Hôpital de Beaumont, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Dermatology, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol, UK; Department of Dermatology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK; Department of Dermatology, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, UK; IDI-IRCCS Biochemistry Laboratory, University of Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy; INSERM U563, Centre de Physiopathologie de Toulouse Purpan, Toulouse, France; Department of Dermatology, Necker Hospital, Paris, France; Departments of Dermatology and Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA; Department of Paediatric Dermatology, Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland; Department of Clinical Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; Department of Dermatology, St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Reference

1. Wen, Y. et al. Loss-of-function mutations of an inhibitory upstream ORF in the human hairless transcript cause Marie Unna hereditary hypotrichosis. Nature Genet. doi:10.1038/ng.276 (2009).  | Article | PubMed | ChemPort |