Sun Haoran, Meng Ke, Wang Yifan, Wang Yayan, Yuan Xiaochun, Li Xinhai
College of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, China.
Front Vet Sci. 2023 Jul 31;10:1186294. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1186294. eCollection 2023.
Hair follicles in Dorper sheep are characterized by seasonal cyclic growth and development, consequently resulting in hair shedding during spring. The cyclic growth and development of hair follicles are regulated by several influencing factors such as photoperiods, hormones, age of the animal, genes, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and signaling pathways.
In the present study, skin samples of five shedding sheep (S), used as experimental animals, and three non-shedding sheep (N), used as controls, were collected at three time points (September 27, 2019; January 3, 2020; and March 17, 2020) for RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology. Nine different groups (S1-vs-S2, S1-vs-S3, S2-vs-S3, N1- vs-N2, N1-vs-N3, N2-vs-N3, S1-vs-N1, S2-vs-N2, and S3-vs-N3) were compared using FDR < 0.05 and log 21 FC >as thresholds to assess the differences in the expression of lncRNAs.
In total, 395 differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs were screened. Cluster heatmap analysis identified two types of expression patterns, namely, high expression during the anagen phase (A pattern) and high expression during the telogen phase (T pattern). Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses revealed that the target genes were largely enriched in the Estrogen signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, Fc gamma R-mediated phagocytosis, and cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), which are associated with hair follicle cyclic growth and development-related pathways. In addition, 17 pairs of lncRNAs-target genes related to hair follicle cyclic growth and development were screened, and a regulatory network was constructed. Altogether, candidate lncRNAs and their regulated target genes were screened that contributed to sheep hair follicle cyclic growth and development. We believe these findings will provide useful insights into the underlying regulatory mechanisms.
杜泊绵羊的毛囊具有季节性周期性生长和发育的特征，因此在春季会出现脱毛现象。毛囊的周期性生长和发育受多种影响因素调控，如光周期、激素、动物年龄、基因、长链非编码RNA（lncRNA）和信号通路等。
在本研究中，选取5只处于脱毛期的绵羊（S）作为实验动物，3只不脱毛的绵羊（N）作为对照，于三个时间点（2019年9月27日、2020年1月3日和2020年3月17日）采集皮肤样本，用于RNA测序（RNA-seq）技术。以FDR<0.05和log2|FC|>为阈值，比较9个不同组（S1对S2、S1对S3、S2对S3、N1对N2、N1对N3、N2对N3、S1对N1、S2对N2和S3对N3）lncRNA表达的差异。
共筛选出395个差异表达的lncRNA。聚类热图分析确定了两种表达模式，即生长期高表达（A模式）和休止期高表达（T模式）。基因本体（GO）富集分析和京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）富集分析表明，靶基因主要富集于雌激素信号通路、PI3K-Akt信号通路、FcγR介导的吞噬作用和细胞黏附分子（CAMs），这些通路与毛囊周期性生长和发育相关。此外，筛选出17对与毛囊周期性生长和发育相关的lncRNA-靶基因，并构建了调控网络。总之，筛选出了有助于绵羊毛囊周期性生长和发育的候选lncRNA及其调控的靶基因。我们相信这些发现将为潜在的调控机制提供有用的见解。
