PNKP Is Required for Maintaining the Integrity of Progenitor Cell Populations in Adult Mice

July 2021 in “ Life science alliance ”

Wisoo Shin, Whitney Alpaugh, Laura J Hallihan, Sarthak Sinha, Emilie Crowther, Gary R. Martin, Teresa Scheidl-Yee, Xiaoyan Yang, Grace Yoon, Taylor Goldsmith, N. Daniel Berger, Luiz Gn de Almeida, Antoine Dufour, Ina Dobrinski, Michael Weinfeld, Frank R. Jirik, Jeff Biernaskie

polynucleotide kinase phosphatase PNKP hair follicles progenitor cell populations DNA repair enzyme

TLDR PNKP is essential for keeping adult mouse progenitor cells healthy and growing normally.

The study investigates the role of the DNA repair enzyme polynucleotide kinase phosphatase (PNKP) in adult mice by using an inducible conditional mutagenesis approach to disrupt the Pnkp gene globally. The disruption of PNKP in adult mice led to a premature aging-like phenotype, which included impaired growth of hair follicles, seminiferous tubules, and neural progenitor cell populations. These findings suggest that PNKP is essential for maintaining the integrity and normal growth of progenitor cell populations in adult mice.

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