Scientists from from Colombia, Rockefeller and Stanford Universities, believe they have discovered a gene that significantly impacts hair growth as well as hair follicle miniaturization; the phenomenon that is the cornerstone of male and female pattern baldness.
The gene identified is named APCDD1 (adenomatosis polyposis down-regulated 1), and was found in patients suffering with hereditary hypotrichosis simplex, a condition that usually presents itself in childhood. Hereditary hypotrichosis simplex is a rare autosomal dominant form of hair loss characterized by hair miniaturization, a process in which the hair follicle actually shrinks and normal thick terminal hair is gradually replaced with fine, velus hair.
The American Hair Loss Association states that “Ultimately, this is another valued piece of a very complex puzzle that will allow greater insight into the process of follicle miniaturization”.
“We have at last made a connection between Wnt signaling and human hair disease that is highly significant,” says lead author Angela M. Christiano, Ph.D., Professor of dermatology and genetics & development at Columbia University Medical Center,“And unlike commonly available treatments for hair loss that involve blocking hormonal pathways, treatments involving the Wnt pathway would be non-hormonal, which may enable many more people suffering from hair loss to receive such therapies.”
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