Expression Profiling Reveals Genes Involved in the Regulation of Wool Follicle Bulb Regression and Regeneration in Sheep
April 2015
in “
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
”
keratins keratin-associated proteins anagen phase catagen phase telogen phase ectoderm development epidermis development ErbB signaling pathway MAPK signaling pathway apoptosis TGF-beta signaling pathway BMP signaling pathway Wnt signaling pathway hair follicle cycling gene transcription cell proliferation hair growth phase hair shedding phase resting phase skin development skin layer development cell death hair growth cycle
TLDR The research identified genes and pathways important for sheep wool growth and shedding.
The study analyzed gene expression in sheep wool follicle bulbs during different growth phases and found 13,898 genes, with keratins and keratin-associated proteins being the most expressed. There were 438 genes differentially expressed between the middle anagen and catagen phases, and 203 genes between the catagen and late telogen/early anagen phases. Downregulated genes in the catagen phase were linked to gene transcription and cell proliferation, while upregulated genes were related to ectoderm and epidermis development. The study highlighted two gene groups with distinct expression patterns that may be crucial in wool follicle bulb regression and regeneration. Pathway analysis implicated several signaling pathways, including ErbB, MAPK, apoptosis, TGF-beta/BMP, and Wnt. The research, which included samples from three sheep and used Illumina sequencing and real-time RT-PCR for validation, provides insights into the complex regulation of hair follicle cycling and identifies potential genes for further study in wool follicle biology. The study was funded by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China and the National Program of Transgenic Variety Development of China.
