708 Aire deficiency induces upregulation of JAK-STAT signaling in keratinocytes and results in alopecia areata-like lesions in mice

Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune hair loss disorder with no cure. We report here that C57BL/6J female mice with germline deficiency in autoimmune regulator (Aire-/-) spontaneously developed AA-like lesions (n=61/98; 62%). Aire-/- lesions exhibited AA hallmarks such as miniaturized hair follicles (HFs), decreased hair width (-29%, p<0.0173) and length (-27%, p=0.0002), and increased lymphocytic infiltrate at the hair bulb (+191% in CD8+ T cells, p=0.0546) relative to body site matched Aire+/+ tissue.