Study identifies possible cause of hair loss

The research, conducted on mice, reveals that defective palmitoylation resulted in hair loss

June 2010

A common type of protein modification could be a cause of various health problems, including osteoporosis and hair loss, according to the results of an international study led by Taiwanese scientists.

The research, conducted on mice, reveals that defective palmitoylation resulted in hair loss, severe osteoporosis, cachexia, systemic amyloidosis and early death in the animals, Academia Sinica said a statement released Friday.

Palmitoylation is a common protein modification that involves the addition of palmitate, a fatty acid, to proteins. The study found that the defective palmitoylation was caused by a mutation in the Zdhhc13 gene, the nation's top research institute said in the statement.

It said the mouse model developed by the team will be useful in further investigation of the mechanisms by which improper palmitoylation leads to disease, including the identification of Zdhhc13 target proteins.

"The elucidation of these proteins would be an exciting first step to understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying human alopecia, osteoporosis and many neurodegenerative diseases caused by protein misfolding and amyloidosis," the statement said.

The study, headed by Chen Yuan-tsong, director of Academia Sinica's Institute of Biomedical Sciences, and research fellow Jeffrey Yen,

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