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Our Funds at Work
Jerry Shapiro, MD, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Scarring alopecia is a diagnosis for a group of hair loss diseases where hair follicles are permanently destroyed. The diseases can affect, men, women and children. In scarring alopecias, the hair loss starts as small patches that then expand over the scalp with time. People with scarring alopecia may be affected by extensive and permanent hair loss - a psychologically devastating event for those affected. Scarring alopecias are poorly understood and treatment options are limited to non-existent. Our objective is to identify gene expression patterns involved in the development of two of the most common scarring alopecias; lichen planopilaris and pseudopelade of Brocq. In addition, by defining the genes expressed in each disease diagnosis we may determine whether the two diseases involve the same or different mechanisms of development. We shall obtain tissue samples from patients with these two conditions and examine the tissues for differences in the expression of over 21,000 genes (covering almost the entire human genome) using a process called microarray chip technology. This will indicate different patterns of gene expression associated with disease development. We shall then use other tissue biopsies from patients to look for selected gene products (proteins made by the genes) in the damaged hair follicles and surrounding skin. Some of the identified genes and the protein products are likely to be very important in the disease mechanism of development. These genes and their products may be important targets for the development of new treatments in future research.
©2007
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