036 Mouse models for studying hair biology

JP Sundberg The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, U.S.A.

Domestic animals develop hair diseases and many species, primarily sheep, have been used to study hair biology. Mice develop many of the same diseases as humans and have become the premier in vivo model for studying biology, pathology, genetics, and molecular mechanisms of many hair diseases. Examples of characterized mutant mice with abnormal pilosebaceous unit phenotypes will be presented to illustrate the value of these animals as models to help understand human diseases such as scarring alopecias (sebaceous gland abnormalities of asebia and bareskin), hair cycle (angora, hairless, and others), structural defects of hair fibers (most common cause of mouse baldness), and autoimmune diseases (alopecia areata, flaky skin, and chronic proliferative dermatitis). Genetically engineered mice have defined the role of many genes involved in hair biology. Spontaneous mutant mice have been long studied and provide a wealth of historical information on the biology surrounding the function of these genes since many were characterized in great detail before the advent of bioengineering techology.