Scientists discover gene that causes baldness

Hereditary baldness gene has been identified, which could lead on to future hair loss treatment being made available.

Researchers have found a gene mutation which leads to thinning hair and which can even start taking effect in childhood. The gene, APCDD1, causes hair follicles to shrink, leading to thinner hair known as 'peach fuzz'.

The discovery had taken place at the Columbia Universality, and the team now hope of further things to discover in ways of treating hair loss in men and women. The condition leading to thinning hair is known as hereditary hypotrichosis simplex and the researchers believe they have pinpointed the gene behind it.

Dr Angela Christiano, lead author and professor of dermatology and genetics and development at Columbia University Medical Center, said: 'The identification of this gene underlying hereditary hypotrichosis simplex has afforded us an opportunity to gain insight into the process of hair follicle miniaturization, which is most commonly observed in male pattern hair loss or androgenetic alopecia.

'It is important to note that while these two conditions share the same physiologic process, the gene we discovered for hereditary hypotrichosis does not explain the complex process of male pattern baldness.'

Her team studied data from families in Pakistan and Italy with hereditary hypotrichosis simplex. They identified a common mutation in the APCDD1 gene, which is located in a specific region on a chromosome 18 that has been linked in previous studies to hair loss.

It inhibits a signal pathway known as Wnt which has been shown to control hair growth in mice, but has only now been linked to the human condition.

Dr Christiano said: 'We have at last made a connection between Wnt signaling and human hair disease that is highly significant.

'We have years of beautiful data in our field about hair growth in mice, but this is the first inroad into showing that the same pathway is critical in human hair growth.

'This is the first mutation in a Wnt inhibitor that deregulates the pathway in a human hair disease.

'Furthermore, these findings suggest that manipulating the Wnt pathway may have an effect on hair follicle growth - for the first time, in humans. '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.'

Therefore if the science in hereditary hair loss comes on leaps and bound traditional treatment such as Propecia could be a thing of the past.