title: Alopecia areata: updates from the mouse perspective.
abstract: Alopecia areata (AA) is a cell-mediated autoimmune disease that targets actively growing hair follicles in mammals, including humans and mice. Development of the C3H/HeJ spontaneous mouse model AA nearly 20 years ago provided a much needed tool to test the hypotheses and ultimately serve as a preclinical model for drug testing. Discoveries in both human AA patients and the mouse model supported each other and lead to discoveries on the incredibly complex genetic basis of this disease. The discovery that A/J, MRL/MpJ, SJL/J, and SWR/J strains also develop AA now allows genome-wide association mapping studies to expand the list of genes underlying this disease. Potential new targets for unraveling the pathogenesis of AA include the role of retinoic acid metabolism in the severity of disease and hair shaft proteins that may be either the inciting antigen or ultimate target of the immune reaction leading to breakage of the shaft causing clinical alopecia. Comparing these model systems with human and mouse clinical disease, for both discovery and validation of the discoveries, continues to resolve the complex questions surrounding AA.
authors: 1] Department of Research, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine, USA [2] Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors: John P
authors: JP
authors: Sundberg
authors: Annerose
authors: A
authors: Berndt
authors: Kathleen A
authors: KA
authors: Silva
authors: Victoria E
authors: VE
authors: Kennedy
authors: Beth A
authors: BA
authors: Sundberg
authors: Helen B
authors: HB
authors: Everts
authors: Robert H
authors: RH
authors: Rice
authors: Lloyd E
authors: LE
authors: King
mesh_terms: D000506:Alopecia Areata / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014212:Tretinoin