College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
PLoS One. 2013 Jul 30;8(7):e68840. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068840. Print 2013.
Hu sheep lambskin comes from a specific breed of sheep of China. Hu sheep are considered a protected breed by the Chinese government. The hair follicles of these sheep have three types of waves, large, medium, and small. There are only few histological reports of Hu sheep lambskin, and there are no modern molecular or biological studies, so the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of hair follicles with different patterns are not currently known. The aim of this article was to study the molecular mechanism of the formation of these types of hair follicles in Hu sheep. Histological and microscopic analysis indicated that the number of follicles with small waves was not significantly higher than the number of follicles with large waves (P>0.05). The diameters of primary and secondary small-wave follicles were significantly smaller than those of large-wave follicles (P<0.05; P<0.01). The ratio between the number primary follicles and the number of secondary follicles was significantly higher among small-wave follicles than among large-wave follicles (P<0.05). Differentially expressed genes in the skin tissue were screened using an Agilent gene chip and RT-PCR. Differential expression analysis revealed 3 groups of large waves and small waves; 1067, 2071, and 3879 differentially expressed genes; and 137 genes common to all 3 groups. Differentially expressed genes were classified using gene ontology. They were found to be mainly involved in cell differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis, growth, immune response, and ion transport. RT-PCR results of 4 differentially expressed genes were consistent with gene chip results. Combined with related literature, our results suggest that BMP7, MMP2, SNAI1, SFXN1, CDKNIC, MT3, and POU1F1 may have important effects on the formation of large-wave and small-wave hair follicles. This study may enrich knowledge of hair follicle development, and may identify the genes responsible for the formation of hair follicles with different patterns.
滩羊羔皮来自中国的一个特定绵羊品种。滩羊被中国政府视为受保护品种。这些羊的毛囊有三种波浪，大、中、小。关于滩羊羔皮的组织学报道很少，也没有现代分子或生物学研究，因此目前尚不清楚形成不同模式毛囊的分子机制。本文旨在研究滩羊不同类型毛囊形成的分子机制。组织学和显微镜分析表明，具有小波浪的毛囊数量与具有大波浪的毛囊数量没有显著差异（P>0.05）。初级和次级小波浪毛囊的直径明显小于大波浪毛囊（P<0.05；P<0.01）。小波浪毛囊中初级毛囊和次级毛囊的数量比明显高于大波浪毛囊（P<0.05）。使用 Agilent 基因芯片和 RT-PCR 筛选皮肤组织中的差异表达基因。差异表达分析显示，在大波浪和小波浪之间存在 3 组差异表达基因；1067、2071 和 3879 个差异表达基因；以及 3 组中都存在的 137 个共有基因。对差异表达基因进行基因本体论分类。发现它们主要参与细胞分化、增殖、凋亡、生长、免疫反应和离子转运。4 个差异表达基因的 RT-PCR 结果与基因芯片结果一致。结合相关文献，我们的结果表明 BMP7、MMP2、SNAI1、SFXN1、CDKNIC、MT3 和 POU1F1 可能对大波浪和小波浪毛囊的形成有重要影响。本研究可能丰富毛囊发育的知识，并可能鉴定出负责形成不同模式毛囊的基因。
