New study brings cure for baldness a step closer

Published on Sunday 4 January 2009 21:04

SCIENTISTS have discovered that mutations in a chemical cause a rare form of genetic hair loss, raising hopes of a cure for baldness.

The peptide functions by inhibiting production of a gene known as HR; the variants result in increased levels of the gene.

Dr Xue Zhang, of Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, and colleagues said their findings show HR levels must be maintained in a certain range to prevent hair loss.

They suggest the previously unknown chemical offers a new target for the development of drugs to treat some forms of hereditary baldness.

Ten years ago researchers found that mutations in the HR gene are responsible for congenital atrichia, where hair is shed completely during the first year of life and never regrows.

Dr Zhang, whose findings are published online in Nature Genetics, has now shown a sequence immediately adjacent to HR encodes the chemical, and that mutations affecting its function are found in families with MUHH (Maria Unna hereditary hypotrichosis), a condition related to congenital atrichia.