LAUSR

Alopecia areata is a common non‐scarring hair loss disorder. It has been generally recognised as a loss of immune privilege leading to an autoimmune attack upon anagen hair follicles. Survivin is one of the apoptosis inhibitor proteins, responsible for apoptosis suppression and cell cycle regulation. Survivin expression has been demonstrated in the matrix and outer root sheath keratinocytes of anagen hair follicles. Survivin overexpression was shown in several autoimmune diseases, and it was postulated that it contributes to the survival of self‐reactive T and B cells. P53 is a tumour suppressor gene that was suggested to repress autoimmunity via induction of T regulatory cells. Survivin gene expression is transcriptionally suppressed by wild‐type p53.