Hebert JM, Rosenquist T, Gotz J, Martin GR:
FGF5 as a regulator of the hair growth cycle: evidence from targeted
and spontaneous mutations.
Cell 1994 Sep 23;78(6):1017-25
ABSTRACT
Fibroblast growth factor 5 (FGF5) is a secreted signaling protein.
Mice homozygous for a predicted null allele of the Fgf5 gene,
fgf5neo, produced by gene targeting in embryonic stem cells, have
abnormally long hair. This phenotype appears identical to that of
mice homozygous for the spontaneous mutation angora (go). The
fgf5neo and go mutations fail to complement one another, and exon 1
of Fgf5 is deleted in DNA from go homozygotes, demonstrating that go
is a mutant allele of Fgf5. Expression of Fgf5 is detected in hair
follicles from wild-type mice and is localized to the outer root
sheath during the anagen VI phase of the hair growth cycle. These
findings provide evidence that FGF5 functions as an inhibitor of
hair elongation, thus identifying a molecule whose normal function
is apparently to regulate one step in the progression of the
follicle through the hair growth cycle.
