Integrative Analysis of Methylome and Transcriptome Reveals the Regulatory Mechanisms of Hair Follicle Morphogenesis in Cashmere Goat

The study conducted an integrative analysis of the methylome and transcriptome to understand the regulatory mechanisms of hair follicle morphogenesis in Cashmere goats, focusing on two key developmental stages, embryonic day 65 (E 65) and embryonic day 120 (E 120). Researchers found that Wnt signaling was crucial for hair follicle induction and differentiation, and identified several transcription factors that were specifically expressed at E 120 and participated in hair follicle differentiation. They also discovered that the expression of some hair follicle differentiation genes and transcription factor genes was generally negatively correlated with DNA methylation levels. Additionally, 45 upregulated and 147 downregulated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were identified between E 120 and E 65, with potential differentially expressed lncRNAs associated with DNA methylation on target genes. The study concluded that DNA methylation and lncRNAs are important regulators of hair follicle induction and differentiation in Cashmere goats.