Kai-Yuan Ji, Yi-Wei Zhao, Ru-Jun Wen, Khan Ibrar Muhammad, Yun-Hai Zhang
Anhui Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources Protection and Biological Breeding for Livestock and Poultry, College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.
Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Veterinary Pathobiology and Disease Control, College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.
Front Vet Sci. 2022 Nov 3;9:1009174. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.1009174. eCollection 2022.
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in many biological processes and have been extensively researched. Nonetheless, literature focusing on the roles of lncRNA in melanocytes is limited. Melanocytes are located in the basal layer of the epidermis and determine the color of an animal's skin and hair by producing melanin. The mechanisms of melanogenesis remain unclear. Here, melanocytes from Boer goat skins were successfully isolated and verified using morphological observation, dopamine staining, silver ammonia staining, and immunohistochemical staining . Phenotypic testing revealed that melanocytes isolated from goat skins with white and brown hairs showed significant differences in proliferation, migration, and melanogenesis ( < 0.01). RNA sequencing was performed with the isolated melanocytes, and through bioinformatic analysis, several candidate lncRNAs and mRNAs involved in stage-specific melanogenesis were identified. Functional enrichment analysis indicated that miRNA precursors and -regulatory effects of lncRNAs were deeply dissected using the function prediction software. Multiple lncRNA-mRNA networks were presumed to be involved in melanocyte migration, proliferation, and melanogenesis based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotation. This research provided novel bioinformatic insights into the roles of lncRNAs in mammalian pigmentation.
长链非编码RNA（lncRNAs）参与许多生物学过程，并且已经得到广泛研究。尽管如此，关注lncRNA在黑素细胞中作用的文献仍然有限。黑素细胞位于表皮的基底层，通过产生黑色素来决定动物皮肤和毛发的颜色。黑色素生成的机制仍不清楚。在这里，通过形态学观察、多巴胺染色、银氨染色和免疫组织化学染色成功分离并验证了来自波尔山羊皮肤的黑素细胞。表型测试显示，从白色和棕色毛发的山羊皮肤中分离出的黑素细胞在增殖、迁移和黑色素生成方面存在显著差异（<0.01）。对分离出的黑素细胞进行RNA测序，并通过生物信息学分析，鉴定出了几个参与特定阶段黑色素生成的候选lncRNA和mRNA。功能富集分析表明，使用功能预测软件深入剖析了lncRNA的miRNA前体和调控作用。基于京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）注释，推测多个lncRNA-mRNA网络参与黑素细胞的迁移、增殖和黑色素生成。这项研究为lncRNA在哺乳动物色素沉着中的作用提供了新的生物信息学见解。
