The Transcriptional Regulator Prdm1 Is Essential for the Early Development of the Sensory Whisker Follicle and Is Linked to the Beta-Catenin First Dermal Signal

    October 2022 in “ Biomedicines ”
    Pierluigi Giuseppe Manti, Fabrice Darbellay, Marion Leleu, Aisling Y. Coughlan, Bernard M. E. Moret, J. G. Cuennet, Frederic Droux, Magali Stoudmann, Gian-Filippo Mancini, Agnès Hautier, Jessica Sordet-Dessimoz, Stéphane D. Vincent, Giuseppe Testa, Giulio Cossu, Yann Barrandon
    Studysummary This study found that Prdm1 is crucial for whisker development in mice, affecting multiple signaling pathways and possibly playing a role in primates' evolutionary loss of vibrissae. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.
    The study demonstrates that the transcriptional regulator Prdm1 is crucial for the early development of sensory whisker follicles in mice. Prdm1 is expressed in mesenchymal cell clusters before placode formation, and its knockout results in the loss of key signaling molecules (Bmp2, Shh, Bmp4, Krt17, Edar, and Gli1) but retains the β-catenin-driven first dermal signal. Prdm1-expressing cells act as a signaling center and multipotent progenitors for adult whisker lineages. Genetic ablation of Prdm1 leads to the absence of macro vibrissae, affecting nerve organization in mystacial pads and barrel cortex reorganization. Lef1 is identified as an upstream regulator of Prdm1, with a primate-specific deletion in a Lef1 enhancer suggesting evolutionary implications for vibrissae loss in primates.
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