To grow or not to grow: the horse mane as an innovative model to identify genetic key regulators for hair growth

We aim to use the horse as a model to study hair loss, and hair growth disorders, in human. Hair loss, or hair diseases, can be psychologically stressful.

Androgenic alopecia is a common form of hair loss in both men and women, and has often been associated with mental health disorders.

Studies of hair growth, and hair follicle stem cells, are also of importance since it is considered ideal for studying the development of skin cancer.

Despite this, we still understand perplexingly little about the molecular mechanisms that underpin hair growth and loss.

As with human head hair, and contrary to the short erect mane of extant wild equid species, the mane of some horse breeds can grow extremely long. There is no accepted explanation for the origin and function of a horse mane. The mane lacks motor control and its shaving does not seem to affect the functionality of the horse.

We hypothesize that the origin of the horse mane is the result of artificial selection of hair growth mutants by people during domestication.

We have identified a significant genomic region for mane growth in horses and we propose to use the very latest technology for analyzing gene expression in individual cells and link this to where in the skin these cells are, as well as identify the regulatory elements that affect how DNA is expressed to mRNA.

We propose the use of unique gene mapping experiments in horses and zebras, and expect to reveal several new important molecular mechanisms for hair growth.