Scientists identify gene that may explain hair loss

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090525/sc_nm/us_hair_loss

I was just getting ready to post that.

I was hoping to check your thoughts on this potential discovery.


Here are some interesting pubmed studies. Nothing to get excited about though.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15995704?ordinalpos=4&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15039105?ordinalpos=8&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

sublime - This might require further elucidation, but if I were to guess, I believe that since Sox21 is a repressor of neuronal differentiation, this implies that Sox21 is a natural antagonist of neurogenic inflammation. So it's quite possible that Sox21 could be a natural antagonist to substance P and nerve growth factor which have been shown to cause hair loss under stress.

I'm looking forward to further studies on this.

This study below is a good example of what neurogenic inflammation can do to hair.

http://ajp.amjpathol.org/cgi/content/full/171/6/1872

and the top6 addresses these issues? Particularly EC.

Swimmy - Resveratrol & Curcumin. Ecklonica Cava (EC) works on various other functions.

See this is part of the difficulty I encounter dissecting this information when it comes to knowing what is downstream and what is upstream. Could sox21 simply be upstream of NK1 or NGF and we are already focusing on the correct areas? Or did I confuse myself in a loop?

So far so little is known about Sox21, especially in adults.

Here is the study itself on Sox21:

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 May 26. [Epub ahead of print]
The disruption of Sox21-mediated hair shaft cuticle differentiation causes cyclic alopecia in mice.
Kiso M, Tanaka S, Saba R, Matsuda S, Shimizu A, Ohyama M, Okano HJ, Shiroishi T, Okano H, Saga Y.

Divisions of Mammalian Development and.

Hair is maintained through a cyclic process that includes periodic regeneration of hair follicles in a stem cell-dependent manner. Little is known, however, about the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate the layered differentiation of the hair follicle. We have established a mutant mouse with a cyclic alopecia phenotype resulting from the targeted disruption of Sox21, a gene that encodes a HMG-box protein. These mice exhibit progressive hair loss after morphogenesis of the first hair follicle and become completely nude in appearance, but then show hair regrowth. Sox21 is expressed in the cuticle layer and the progenitor cells of the hair shaft in both mouse and human. The lack of this gene results in a loss of the interlocking structures required for anchoring the hair shaft in the hair follicle. Furthermore, the expression of genes encoding the keratins and keratin binding proteins in the hair shaft cuticle are also specifically down-regulated in the Sox21-null mouse. These results indicate that Sox21 is a master regulator of hair shaft cuticle differentiation and shed light on the possible causes of human hair disorders.