Hai Erhan, Wang ChangShou, Wu Zhihong
Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Sheep & Goat Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, Inner Mongolia, China.
Department of Agriculture, Hetao College, Bayannur 015000, Inner Mongolia, China.
Comp Biochem Physiol Part D Genomics Proteomics. 2024 Dec;52:101357. doi: 10.1016/j.cbd.2024.101357. Epub 2024 Nov 9.
The formation of dermal condensates (DCs) through fibroblasts is a pivotal event in hair follicle morphogenesis in cashmere goats, a process that intricately involves epithelial-fibroblast communication. Exosomes (Exos), as essential mediators of intercellular communication, have garnered increasing attention in recent years, yet their precise role in hair follicle morphogenesis remains largely unknown. In this study, we focused on isolating and identifying epithelial cell-derived exosomes (Epi-Exos) from Inner Mongolian cashmere goats. Our experiments demonstrated that Epi-Exos could efficiently enter fibroblasts within 12 h of co-culture. Both direct co-culture of epithelial cells with fibroblasts and co-culture with Epi-Exos alone revealed that Epi-Exos promoted fibroblast migration while inhibiting their proliferation, changes that mirror the cellular biological characteristics observed during DC formation. Furthermore, recognizing the abundance of miRNAs carried by Exos, we conducted small RNA sequencing (small RNA-seq) on Epi-Exos. This analysis identified a panel of 54 highly expressed miRNAs within the Epi-Exos, 34 of which were also found to be abundant in fetal skin tissues of Inner Mongolian cashmere goats. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses indicated that these miRNAs were significantly enriched in cellular processes and signaling pathways related to hair follicle morphogenesis. Notably, our findings offer new perspectives on the role of miRNAs in Epi-Exos regulating DC formation and hair follicle morphogenesis in cashmere goats, with significant implications for understanding hair follicle development mechanisms and potential clinical or production benefits, including improved cashmere quality and yield through targeted exosome-mediated signaling manipulation.
成纤维细胞形成真皮凝聚物（DCs）是绒山羊毛囊形态发生中的关键事件，这一过程复杂地涉及上皮细胞与成纤维细胞之间的通讯。外泌体（Exos）作为细胞间通讯的重要介质，近年来受到越来越多的关注，但其在毛囊形态发生中的具体作用仍 largely 未知。在本研究中，我们专注于从内蒙古绒山羊中分离和鉴定上皮细胞衍生的外泌体（Epi-Exos）。我们的实验表明，Epi-Exos 在共培养 12 小时内可有效进入成纤维细胞。上皮细胞与成纤维细胞直接共培养以及仅与 Epi-Exos 共培养均显示，Epi-Exos 促进成纤维细胞迁移，同时抑制其增殖，这些变化反映了 DC 形成过程中观察到的细胞生物学特征。此外，鉴于 Exos 携带丰富的 miRNA，我们对 Epi-Exos 进行了小 RNA 测序（small RNA-seq）。该分析在 Epi-Exos 中鉴定出一组 54 个高表达的 miRNA，其中 34 个在内蒙古绒山羊胎儿皮肤组织中也很丰富。基因本体（GO）和京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）富集分析表明，这些 miRNA 在与毛囊形态发生相关的细胞过程和信号通路中显著富集。值得注意的是，我们的研究结果为 miRNA 在 Epi-Exos 调节绒山羊 DC 形成和毛囊形态发生中的作用提供了新的视角，对理解毛囊发育机制以及潜在的临床或生产益处具有重要意义，包括通过靶向外泌体介导的信号操纵提高羊绒质量和产量。
