Background: Hereditary hypotrichosis simplex (MIM 146520, HHS) is a rare form of nonsyndromic alopecia. The locus for autosomal dominant HHS was mapped to 18p11.32-p11.23 and 6p21.3, respectively, suggestive of genetic heterogeneity.
Aim: To identify the disease-causing gene for a four-generation Chinese family with dominant transmission of a form of HHS. The work was carried out at State Key Laboratory of Medical Genomics.
Methods: Genome-wide screening was carried out in a Chinese family with HHS using microsatellite markers, and linkage analysis was performed using the MLINK program.
Results: The highest two-point logarithm of the odds (LOD) score was obtained with the microsatellite marker D13S217 (LOD score of 4.041 at theta = 0.00). After fine mapping and haplotype analysis, we defined a critical region of about 9.57 cM flanked by markers D13S1243 and D13S1299. The disease-causing gene was mapped to 13q12.12 approximately 12.3 in this family.
Conclusions: A novel locus for HHS maps to chromosome 13q12.12 approximately 12.3 in a Chinese family.