Skin-Specific Transgenic Overexpression of Ovine β-Catenin in Mice
January 2023
in “
Frontiers in Genetics
”
β-catenin hair follicle development catagen-to-anagen transition transgenic mice ovine β-catenin PCR Southern blot qRT-PCR western blot beta-catenin hair growth hair cycle transition genetically modified mice sheep beta-catenin polymerase chain reaction DNA blotting quantitative reverse transcription PCR protein blotting
TLDR Overexpressing ovine β-catenin in mice skin increases hair follicle density and growth.
The study generated transgenic mice overexpressing ovine β-catenin specifically in their skin to examine its impact on hair follicle development. Out of 480 injected oocytes, 93 founder mice were produced, with 10 identified as transgenic. These mice exhibited significantly higher β-catenin mRNA and protein levels in their skin, leading to increased hair follicle density and an earlier onset of the anagen phase. The β-catenin expression was skin-specific and heritable up to the F6 generation. The findings suggest that ovine β-catenin plays a crucial role in promoting hair follicle growth, with potential applications in improving wool quality in fine-wool sheep breeds. The transgenic mice remained healthy and showed no defects.
