Transcriptomic analysis reveals critical genes for the hair follicle of Inner Mongolia cashmere goat from catagen to telogen

Abstract

There are two main types of hair follicle in Inner Mongolia Cashmere goats, the primary hair follicle (PHF) producing hair fibers and the secondary hair follicle (SHF) producing cashmere fibers. Of both fibers from cashmere-bearing goats in Aerbasi, Inner Mongolia, the timing of cyclical phases for the cashmere have been well clarified but hair fibers have been less noticeable. Herein, we evaluated transcriptome of PHF and SHF from the same three goats in Aerbasi at the catagen- and telogen phase of cashmere growth. We totally found 1977 DEGs between PHFs at the telogen and catagen phases of SHF, 1199 DEGs between telogen- and catagen SHF, 2629 DEGs between PHF at the catagen phase of SHF and catagen SHF, and 755 DEGs between PHF at the telogen phase of SHF and telogen SHF. By analyzing gene functions based on GO and KEGG database, we found that the DEGs have functions in muscle contraction and muscle filament sliding between catagen- and telogen SHF, indicating that arrector pilli muscles might play a role on the transition from catagen to telogen. Moreover, considering that the enriched GO and KEGG categories of the DEGs between PHF and SHF, we suggested that part of PHF might rest in their own anagen phase when SHF are at catagen, but PHF might enter into the telogen phase at SHF’s telogen. Finally, we highly recommended the several potential genes acting as the regulators of the transition between growth phases including IL17RB and eight members of ZNF. These results provide insight into molecular mechanisms on the transition of SHF from catagen to telogen together with PHF’s growth situation at SHF’s catagen and telogen in Inner Mongolia Cashmere goats.

Thymosin β4 Identified by Transcriptomic Analysis from HF Anagen to Telogen Promotes Proliferation of SHF-DPCs in Albas Cashmere Goat

“…Among them, the anagen and telogen stages are the most different in the growth and development of SHF. This phenomenon must be regulated by multiple genes [12,37]. Therefore, we thought that the DEGs between the two periods were most likely the key genes involved in the regulation of hair follicle growth and development.…”

“…Cashmere goats harbor two different kinds of fleece: A short and fine nonmedullated cashmere fiber, which is produced by a secondary hair follicle (SHF), and a long and coarse medullated guard hair, which is produced by a primary hair follicle (PHF) [8]. Hair follicle (HF) growth, which is a highly orchestrated and cyclic process, involves three main stages: Anagen (the rapid growth phase, from April until November), catagen (the gradual degeneration phase, from December to January), and telogen (the relative static phase, from February to March) [9][10][11][12][13]. Although the hair follicle cycle stage of cashmere goat has a unique length and duration, the basic principle of the cyclic transformations of hair follicles is similar to other mammals.…”

“…Due to their important role in cashmere growth, SHF-DPCs serve as an excellent model to investigate the function mechanism of genes on HF in cashmere goats [19][20][21][22]. Therefore, to improve the individual cashmere production of cashmere goats, researchers tried to find the major genes and pathways that may affect the growth and development of SHF-DPCs and HF cycle by transcriptomics and bioinformatics methods [4,12,23].…”

Transcriptome-based Selection and Validation of Optimal House-keeping Genes for Skin Research in Goats (Capra hircus)

“…As was said before, a common HKG in traditional skin research of goats was either ACTB [12][13][14], or GAPDH [15,16]. Almost all of these studies used a single HKG, so it can be speculated that some of these previous studies may have obtained erroneous data.…”

“…In order to reveal the molecular regulatory mechanism of hair follicle activity, it is necessary to clarify the pattern of target gene expression under different conditions, such as in different stages of the hair follicle cycle or in different breeds. Unfortunately, most molecular studies examining goat skin have blindly used a single HKG such as ACTB [12][13][14] or GAPDH [15,16]. In 2014, Bai et al [17] selected 10 commonly used HKGs based on a literature review to explore their stability in different hair follicle cycles of Liaoning cashmere goats.…”