Cowlicks Controlled by Cancer Protein
What does Brad Pitt have in common with a fruit fly? His Hollywood hairstyles cover a prominent cowlick – the swirl of hair that is caused by a patterning mechanism also active in our two-winged friends – that similarly feature “polarized” hair patterns.
In new research led by Michigan State University and featured in the current issue of Scientific Reports, researchers have discovered that these polarity genes, which do more than create cowlicks, are regulated by a tumor suppressor protein. On the macro scale, their presence can be seen in feather and fish scale patterns. On the cellular level, they are directly regulated by a cancer protein, the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein.