Another baldness gene

The gene responsible for baldness has been identifiedLyudmila Aitova, "Compulenta"
Japanese scientists have identified a gene responsible for cyclical baldness in mice.

According to the researchers, the results of observations will also explain the cause of hair loss (alopecia) in humans.

According to a report published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists conducted an experiment on mice that lacked the Sox21 gene. On the 11th day after birth, the animals began to go bald in the direction from the head to the tail, and in the period between the 20th and 25th day they became completely bald and beardless. The subsequent restoration of the hairline was again completed by baldness.

Cyclical alopecia lasted longer than two years, while in mice, secretions from the sebaceous glands around the hair follicles increased, and the epidermis layer thinned during hair loss.

"The Sox21 gene participates in the formation of stem cells that form the outer layer of the hair shaft," believes a team of scientists led by Professor Yumiko Saga from the Mammalian Evolution Laboratory of the National Institute of Genetics in Mishima (Japan).

The results of experiments with human skin samples showed that the Sox21 gene is also expressed in the human hair shaft, and, therefore, its absence may be the cause of human hair loss.

Prepared based on Reuters materials.

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