Wound healing is essential for skin repair after injury, and it consists of hemostasis, inflammation, re-epithelialization, and remodeling phases. Successful re-epithelialization, which relies on proliferation and migration of epidermal keratinocytes, requires a reduction in tissue inflammation. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanism underlying the transition from inflammation to re-epithelialization will help to better understand the principles of wound healing. Currently, the in vivo functions of specific microRNAs in wound healing are not fully understood. We observed that miR-31 expression is strongly induced in wound edge keratinocytes, and is directly regulated by the activity of NF-κB and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 signaling pathways during the inflammation phase. We used miR-31 loss-of-function mouse models to demonstrate that miR-31 promotes keratinocyte proliferation and migration. Mechanistically, miR-31 activates the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling by directly targeting Rasa1, Spred1, Spred2, and Spry4, which are negative regulators of the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. Knockdown of these miR-31 targets at least partially rescues the delayed scratch wound re-epithelialization phenotype observed in vitro in miR-31 knockdown keratinocytes. Taken together, these findings identify miR-31 as an important cell-autonomous mediator during the transition from inflammation to re-epithelialization phases of wound healing, suggesting a therapeutic potential for miR-31 in skin injury repair.
Intestinal regeneration and tumorigenesis are believed to be driven by intestinal stem cells (ISCs). Elucidating mechanisms underlying ISC activation during regeneration and tumorigenesis can help uncover the underlying principles of intestinal homeostasis and disease including colorectal cancer. Here we show that miR-31 drives ISC proliferation, and protects ISCs against apoptosis, both during homeostasis and regeneration in response to ionizing radiation injury. Furthermore, miR-31 has oncogenic properties, promoting intestinal tumorigenesis. Mechanistically, miR-31 acts to balance input from Wnt, BMP, TGFβ signals to coordinate control of intestinal homeostasis, regeneration and tumorigenesis. We further find that miR-31 is regulated by the STAT3 signaling pathway in response to radiation injury. These findings identify miR-31 as a critical modulator of ISC biology, and a potential therapeutic target for a broad range of intestinal regenerative disorders and cancers.
Directional migration is inherently important for epithelial tissue regeneration and repair, but how it is precisely controlled and coordinated with cell proliferation is unclear. Here, we report that Ovol2, a transcriptional repressor that inhibits epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EMT), plays a crucial role in adult skin epithelial regeneration and repair. Ovol2‐deficient mice show compromised wound healing characterized by aberrant epidermal cell migration and proliferation, as well as delayed anagen progression characterized by defects in hair follicle matrix cell proliferation and subsequent differentiation. Epidermal keratinocytes and bulge hair follicle stem cells (Bu‐HFSCs) lacking Ovol2 fail to expand in culture and display molecular alterations consistent with enhanced EMT and reduced proliferation. Live imaging of wound explants and Bu‐HFSCs reveals increased migration speed but reduced directionality, and post‐mitotic cell cycle arrest. Remarkably, simultaneous deletion of Zeb1 encoding an EMT‐promoting factor restores directional migration to Ovol2‐deficient Bu‐HFSCs. Taken together, our findings highlight the important function of an Ovol2‐Zeb1 EMT‐regulatory circuit in controlling the directional migration of epithelial stem and progenitor cells to facilitate adult skin epithelial regeneration and repair.
Hair follicles (HFs) undergo precisely regulated cycles of active regeneration consisting of (anagen), involution (catagen), and relative quiescence (telogen) phases. HF stem cells (HFSCs) play important roles in regenerative cycling. Elucidating mechanisms that governs HFSC behavior can help uncover the underlying principles of hair development, hair growth disorders and skin cancers. RNA-binding proteins of the Musashi (Msi) have been implicated in the biology of different stem cell types, yet they have not been studied in HFSCs. Here we utilized gain- and loss-of-function mouse models to demonstrate that forced MSI2 expression retards anagen entry and consequently, delays hair growth, while loss of Msi2 enhances hair regrowth. Further, our findings show that Msi2 maintains quiescent state of HFSCs in the process of telogen-to-anagen transition. At the molecular level, our unbiased transcriptome profiling shows that Msi2 represses Hh signaling activity and that Shh is its direct target in the HF. Taken together, our findings reveal the importance of Msi2 in suppressing hair regeneration and maintaining HFSC quiescence. Previously unreported Msi2-Shh-Gli1 pathway adds to the growing understanding of the complex network governing cyclic hair growth.
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