Biomaterial Database

Experimental induction of alopecia areata-like hair loss in C3H/HeJ mice using full-thickness skin grafts. 1998

K J McElwee, and D Boggess, and L E King, and J P Sundberg

The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA.

Alopecia areata (AA)-like hair loss in C3H/HeJ mice provides an excellent model for human AA disease research. The potential to induce mouse AA in normal haired C3H/HeJ mice at an early age or serially passage the AA phenotype was investigated by exchange of full-thickness skin grafts. Skin grafts from normal male and female C3H/HeJ, or severe combined immunodeficient C3H/SmnC Prkdc(scid)/J, mice onto AA-affected C3H/HeJ mice became inflamed and lost hair (28 of 28). Successful grafts from AA-affected C3H/HeJ mice induced hair loss in histocompatible C3H/OuJ mice (four of 13) and normal C3H/HeJ mice dependent on age (four of 17 at <31 d and 15 of 15 at >70 d). The AA phenotype was serially transmitted from induced AA mice to normal C3H/HeJ mice (nine of nine). Grafts from AA-affected C3H/HeJ mice onto C3H/SmnC Prkd(scid)/J mice resulted in depigmented hair fiber regrowth and perifollicular neutrophil and eosinophil infiltrates but no hair loss (15 of 15). Sham grafting did not induce AA (none of 10). The finding that AA can be serially transferred from AA-affected C3H/HeJ mice to normal littermates and C3H/ OuJ mice, indicates that an immune response against hair follicles can be induced with suitable stimuli. Conversely, skin grafts from normal C3H/HeJ, or C3H/SmnC Prkd(scid)/J, mice rapidly lose hair due to lymphocyte, but not neutrophil and eosinophil, mediated inflammation. This AA induction method reproducibly provides large numbers of AA-affected mice to study the pathogenesis and treatment of human AA.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007121	Immunocompetence	The ability of lymphoid cells to mount a humoral or cellular immune response when challenged by antigen.	Competence, Immunologic,Immunologic Competence,Immunological Competence,Competence, Immunological
D008213	Lymphocyte Activation	Morphologic alteration of small B LYMPHOCYTES or T LYMPHOCYTES in culture into large blast-like cells able to synthesize DNA and RNA and to divide mitotically. It is induced by INTERLEUKINS; MITOGENS such as PHYTOHEMAGGLUTININS, and by specific ANTIGENS. It may also occur in vivo as in GRAFT REJECTION.	Blast Transformation,Blastogenesis,Lymphoblast Transformation,Lymphocyte Stimulation,Lymphocyte Transformation,Transformation, Blast,Transformation, Lymphoblast,Transformation, Lymphocyte,Activation, Lymphocyte,Stimulation, Lymphocyte
D008297	Male		Males
D008809	Mice, Inbred C3H	An inbred strain of mouse that is used as a general purpose strain in a wide variety of RESEARCH areas including CANCER; INFECTIOUS DISEASES; sensorineural, and cardiovascular biology research.	Mice, C3H,Mouse, C3H,Mouse, Inbred C3H,C3H Mice,C3H Mice, Inbred,C3H Mouse,C3H Mouse, Inbred,Inbred C3H Mice,Inbred C3H Mouse
D004195	Disease Models, Animal	Naturally-occurring or experimentally-induced animal diseases with pathological processes analogous to human diseases.	Animal Disease Model,Animal Disease Models,Disease Model, Animal
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000506	Alopecia Areata	Loss of scalp and body hair involving microscopically inflammatory patchy areas.	Alopecia Circumscripta
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D013601	T-Lymphocytes	Lymphocytes responsible for cell-mediated immunity. Two types have been identified - cytotoxic (T-LYMPHOCYTES, CYTOTOXIC) and helper T-lymphocytes (T-LYMPHOCYTES, HELPER-INDUCER). They are formed when lymphocytes circulate through the THYMUS GLAND and differentiate to thymocytes. When exposed to an antigen, they divide rapidly and produce large numbers of new T cells sensitized to that antigen.	T Cell,T Lymphocyte,T-Cells,Thymus-Dependent Lymphocytes,Cell, T,Cells, T,Lymphocyte, T,Lymphocyte, Thymus-Dependent,Lymphocytes, T,Lymphocytes, Thymus-Dependent,T Cells,T Lymphocytes,T-Cell,T-Lymphocyte,Thymus Dependent Lymphocytes,Thymus-Dependent Lymphocyte