Establishment of a useful assay system for LPA6（下村裕准教授）

Establishment of a useful assay system for LPA6

【本研究の概要】

　Background: Woolly hair (WH) is a hair shaft anomaly characterized by tightly-curled hair and is frequently associated with hypotrichosis. Non-syndromic forms of WH can show either autosomal dominant or recessive inheritance. The autosomal recessive form of WH (ARWH) is caused by mutations in either lipase H (LIPH) or lysophosphatidic acid receptor 6 (LPAR6) gene, encoding an LPA-producing enzyme PA-PLA1α and an LPA receptor LPA6, respectively. Objective: To define the molecular basis of ARWH/hypotrichosis in a Japanese family. Methods: We performed mutational analysis of candidate genes and a series of expression and in vitro functional analyses, which we improved in this study, to determine the consequences resulting from the mutations identified in the family.
Results: Novel compound heterozygous LPAR6 mutations were identified in the patient. One was a nonsense mutation c.756T>A (p.Tyr252*); the other was a large insertion mutation within the promoter region of LPAR6. Expression studies detected LPAR6 mRNA only from the c.756T>A allele in the patient’s hair follicles, suggesting that the insertion in the other allele disrupted the LPAR6 promoter and thus led to a failure of transcription. Furthermore, an improved LPA6 functional assay developed in this study demonstrated aberrant expression and a subsequent loss of function of the p.Tyr252*-mutant protein. Conclusion: Through establishing a useful assay system for LPA6, our results further underscore the crucial roles of LPAR6 in hair follicle development and hair growth in humans at molecular levels.

【論文の情報】

　Hayashi R, Inoue A, Suga Y, Aoki J, Shimomura Y. Analysis of unique mutations in the LPAR6 gene identified in a Japanese family with autosomal recessive woolly hair/hypotrichosis: Establishment of a useful assay system for LPA6. J. Dermatol. Sci., 78:197-205, 2015.

【用語解説】

• Woolly hair: 縮毛症
• Hypotrichosis: 乏毛症
• Lysophosphatidic acid: リゾホスファチジン酸

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• 新潟大学大学院医歯学総合研究科　皮膚科学分野
  准教授　下村裕 
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