Zeroing in on baldness

WASHINGTON, Jan 30: Scientists have discovered a gene that causes a rare and extreme hair loss, a finding they say, could point to better re...

WASHINGTON, Jan 30: Scientists have discovered a gene that causes a rare and extreme hair loss, a finding they say, could point to better remedies for hereditary baldness. Researchers found the gene, appropriately named Hairless, by studying a Pakistani family plagued for generations by an inherited form of Alopecia Universalis.

Sufferers are born without eyelashes or eyebrows, quickly lose the hair on the head and never grow any body hair.

It8217;s a far cry from the more common baldness that sends millions of men racing for hair-growth drugs or toupees. But because the hairless gene regulates the same hair follicle, and appears to switch on other hair-related genes, it provides a vital clue to understanding hair growth and loss, said lead researcher Angela Christiano of Columbia University in New York .

8220;We8217;re hoping this will lead us to the next gene and the next,8221; said Christiano, a dermatology professor. Christiano began her hunt in a large Pakistani family that had inherited AlopeciaUniversalis-the rarest and most extreme form of hair loss that struck at least five generations, including seven still-living patients. Through extensive DNA testing scientists narrowed the hunt to one region of Chromosome 8 that appeared flawed.

Stymied, Christiano turned to animal research. Scientists already had discovered that knocking out the so-called hairless gene in mice let them breed bare rodents. Theorising that the gene was a possible human culprit, Christiano used gene cloning techniques to investigate a database of healthy human DNA and discovered the human version of the hairless gene.

But the question was whether the hairless gene was active in people. First Christiano discovered it resides in that same region of Chromosome 8 implicated in the Pakistani hair loss. Then a closer look at the family8217;s genes showed all the bald relatives had a single mutation that she couldn8217;t find in 150 healthy people.

8220;If the hairless gene is mutated so that it doesn8217;t make a certain protein, hairfollicles can8217;t form,quot; Christiano concluded.. Said Dr David Valle, a medical geneticist and pediatrician at Johns Hopkins University, quot;An immediate question is whether the hairless gene is affected by hormones, because male baldness occurs when there is a buildup of a testosterone byproduct in the scalp. Christiano8217;s discovery is certain to lead to some very interesting biology, and that biology is certain to resonate with the vast majority of the population 8230; 8220;Who after all is n8217;t worried about losing his hair8221;.