The Mouse Hairy Ears Mutation Exhibits an Extended Growth (Anagen) Phase in Hair Follicles and Altered Hoxc Gene Expression in the Ears
November 2008
in “
Veterinary Dermatology
”
TLDR The mouse hairy ears mutation causes longer ear hair due to changes in gene expression.
The study on the mouse hairy ears (Eh) mutation found that this mutation led to an extended anagen phase in hair follicles, resulting in longer hair on the ears. This was linked to an inversion on chromosome 15, which altered the expression of Hoxc genes, particularly Hoxc8 and Hoxc9, without disrupting any protein-coding genes. The findings suggested that the hair phenotype was due to position effects on gene expression near the inversion breakpoints, providing insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying hair growth and development.