Ding Haisheng, Zhao Huiling, Zhao Xiaowei, Qi Yunxia, Wang Xiaofei, Huang Dongwei
Anhui Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Product Safety Engineering, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei, 230031, Anhui, People's Republic of China.
BMC Genomics. 2021 Jan 28;22(1):89. doi: 10.1186/s12864-021-07398-4.
Hair follicle density influences wool fibre production, which is one of the most important traits of the Wan Strain Angora rabbit. However, molecular mechanisms regulating hair follicle density have remained elusive.
In this study, hair follicle density at different body sites of Wan Strain Angora rabbits with high and low wool production (HWP and LWP) was investigated by histological analysis. Haematoxylin-eosin staining showed a higher hair follicle density in the skin of the HWP rabbits. The long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) profile was investigated by RNA sequencing, and 50 and 38 differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs and genes, respectively, were screened between the HWP and LWP groups. A gene ontology analysis revealed that phospholipid, lipid metabolic, apoptotic, lipid biosynthetic, and lipid and fatty acid transport processes were significantly enriched. Potential functional lncRNAs that regulate lipid metabolism, amino acid synthesis, as well as the Janus kinase (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) and hedgehog signalling pathways, were identified. Consequently, five lncRNAs (LNC_002171, LNC_000797, LNC_005567, LNC_013595, and LNC_020367) were considered to be potential regulators of hair follicle density and development. Three DE lncRNAs and genes were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR).
LncRNA profiles provide information on lncRNA expression to improve the understanding of molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of hair follicle density.
毛囊密度影响羊毛纤维产量，这是皖系长毛兔最重要的性状之一。然而，调节毛囊密度的分子机制仍不清楚。
在本研究中，通过组织学分析研究了高羊毛产量（HWP）和低羊毛产量（LWP）的皖系长毛兔不同身体部位的毛囊密度。苏木精-伊红染色显示HWP兔皮肤中的毛囊密度较高。通过RNA测序研究了长链非编码RNA（lncRNA）图谱，在HWP组和LWP组之间分别筛选出50个和38个差异表达的lncRNA和基因。基因本体分析表明，磷脂、脂质代谢、凋亡、脂质生物合成以及脂质和脂肪酸转运过程显著富集。鉴定出了调节脂质代谢、氨基酸合成以及Janus激酶（JAK）-信号转导子和转录激活子（STAT）和刺猬信号通路的潜在功能性lncRNA。因此，五个lncRNA（LNC_002171、LNC_000797、LNC_005567、LNC_013595和LNC_020367）被认为是毛囊密度和发育的潜在调节因子。通过定量实时聚合酶链反应（q-PCR）验证了三个差异表达的lncRNA和基因。
lncRNA图谱提供了lncRNA表达信息，以增进对毛囊密度调节所涉及分子机制的理解。
