Identification of the key proteins associated with different hair types in sheep and goats

Abstract

Animal-derived fiber has the characteristics of being light, soft, strong, elastic and a good thermal insulator, and it is widely used in many industries and traditional products, so it plays an important role in the economy of some countries. Variations in phenotypes of wool fibers among different species and breeds are important for industry. We found that the mean fiber diameter of cashmere was significantly smaller than that of sheep wool (p < 0.01), and sheep wool was significantly smaller than goat wool (p < 0.01). Compared with traditional proteomics technology, we analyzed cashmere, guard hair, and wool by Laber-free proteomics technology and detected 159, 204, and 70 proteins, respectively. Through the sequential windowed acquisition of all theoretical fragmentations (SWATH), 41 and 54 differentially expressed proteins were successfully detected in the cashmere vs. wool group and guard hair vs. wool group. Protein‒protein interaction network analysis of differentially expressed proteins revealed many strong interactions related to KRT85, KRTAP15-1 and KRTAP3-1. The final analysis showed that the proportion of KRT85, KRTAP15-1 and KRTAP3-1 might be the key to the difference in fiber diameter and could be used as a potential molecular marker for distinguishing different fiber types.

Integration Analysis of Hair Follicle Transcriptome and Proteome Reveals the Mechanisms Regulating Wool Fiber Diameter in Angora Rabbits

“…KRT77, a member of the type II keratin family, plays an important role in epidermal and coat formation [ 43 ]. Furthermore, differential abundance of KRT40 has been observed between cashmere and guard fiber in sheep and goats [ 1 ]. Collectively, these findings highlight the significance of these differentially expressed KRT proteins as important structural components that may contribute to variations in hair diameter among Angora rabbits.…”

“…Animal fibers are extensively utilized in, and serve as an important agricultural commodity for, global textile industries [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Rabbit fibers, being one of the most favored natural fibers worldwide, possess significant economic value within the textile industry.…”

“…Wool comprises two major types of proteins: intermediate filament keratins (KRTs) and keratin-associated proteins (KAPs) [ 24 ]. The KRT and KAP families comprise major structural proteins that contribute to cuticle structure and fiber characteristics, thereby determining the quality of the fiber structure and characteristics of general hair in mammals, as well as enabling a greater understanding of these properties [ 1 , 25 ]. Wool growth involves both spatially and temporally dependent aggregation and expression of keratins [ 26 ].…”

Effect of Fibroblast Growth Factor 10 and an Interacting Non-Coding RNA on Secondary Hair Follicle Dermal Papilla Cells in Cashmere Goats’ Follicle Development Assessed by Whole-Transcriptome Sequencing Technology

“…Transcriptomic analysis of cashmere goats under different photoperiods revealed differentially expressed miRNAs and mRNAs affecting the growth of cashmere [ 15 ]. In addition, high-throughput sequencing studies have enabled the identification of cashmere shape characteristics in cashmere goats [ 16 ], the identification of key genes and proteins of different cashmere types [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], and the analysis of goats’ milk production traits [ 21 ]. This technology can comprehensively reveal the molecular regulatory network and mechanism of cashmere shape in cashmere goats from a macroscopic and multidimensional perspective, providing an important theoretical basis for in-depth research on cashmere goats.…”