The Keratin Defect and Hair-cycle of a New Mutant (Matted) in the House-mouse

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Abstract
The gene matted (symbol ma) reported by Searle & Spearman (1957) causes the body-hair of affected mice to be brittle and inflexible; this results in longitudinal splitting and breaking due to friction against the cage and other objects. In the present paper the keratin abnormality of the hair is studied. The defect in matted hairs is compared with that of Naked (N/ +) mice (Grüneberg, 1952), and the hair-cycle in matted mice is described. Keratins probably vary widely in composition, but attempts to study their chemistry have been only partially successful (Bach, 1952; Neurath & Bailey, 1954; Rothman, 1954). All keratins are rich in cystine, and it has been shown that oxidation of thiol SH groups to cystine S—S occurs during keratinization (Giroud & Bulliard, 1930; Hardy, 1952). The strength of keratin depends largely upon cystine linkages (Goddard & Michaelis, 1934), hydrogen bonds (Alexander, 1951), and polar (salt) linkages (Speakman & Townsend, 1938); these unite the long polypeptide fibre molecules.