Impaired hair growth and wound healing in mice lacking thyroid hormone receptors

PLoS One. 2014 Sep 25;9(9):e108137. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108137. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Both clinical and experimental observations show that the skin is affected by the thyroidal status. In hypothyroid patients the epidermis is thin and alopecia is common, indicating that thyroidal status might influence not only skin proliferation but also hair growth. We demonstrate here that the thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) mediate these effects of the thyroid hormones on the skin. Mice lacking TRα1 and TRβ (the main thyroid hormone binding isoforms) display impaired hair cycling associated to a decrease in follicular hair cell proliferation. This was also observed in hypothyroid mice, indicating the important role of the hormone-bound receptors in hair growth. In contrast, the individual deletion of either TRα1 or TRβ did not impair hair cycling, revealing an overlapping or compensatory role of the receptors in follicular cell proliferation. In support of the role of the receptors in hair growth, TRα1/TRβ-deficient mice developed alopecia after serial depilation. These mice also presented a wound-healing defect, with retarded re-epithelialization and wound gaping, associated to impaired keratinocyte proliferation. These results reinforce the idea that the thyroid hormone nuclear receptors play an important role on skin homeostasis and suggest that they could be targets for the treatment of cutaneous pathologies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Movement / genetics
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Gene Deletion
  • Gene Expression
  • Genetic Association Studies*
  • Hair / growth & development*
  • Hair Follicle / growth & development
  • Hair Follicle / pathology
  • Keratinocytes / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Receptors, Thyroid Hormone / deficiency*
  • Receptors, Thyroid Hormone / genetics
  • Skin / metabolism
  • Thyroid Hormone Receptors alpha / deficiency
  • Thyroid Hormone Receptors alpha / genetics
  • Thyroid Hormone Receptors beta / deficiency
  • Thyroid Hormone Receptors beta / genetics
  • Wound Healing / genetics*

Substances

  • Receptors, Thyroid Hormone
  • Thyroid Hormone Receptors alpha
  • Thyroid Hormone Receptors beta

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Grants BFU2011-28058, RD12/0036/0030 and S2011/BMD-2328 to AA, and SAF2012-34378, RD12/0036/0009 and S2010/BMD-2470 to JMP. MM-F is funded by a ‘Juan de la Cierva’ research fellowship (JCI-2010-06167). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.