Differential expression of fibroblast growth factors and their receptors in hair follicles of fine‐wool sheep (912.10)

Abstract

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) and their receptors (FGFRs) constitute signaling pathways for many developmental and repair processes in mammalian tissues, including those of keratinocytes in hair follicles. FGF family members are encoded by 22 genes and regulate the proliferation of keratinocytes, but the specific genes of this family affecting the overall growth cycle have not been identified. The objective of this study is to screen for FGFs in hair follicles of fine‐wool sheep by microarray and proteomic assays. Hair follicles were sampled in triplicate from neck and groin regions during anagen and telogen growth phases. These regional and growth phase comparisons were examined with gene expression microarrays, and then screened further by two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI‐TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. Results showed that the FGF10, FGF18 and FGFR3 genes differ in expression across both the regional and growth phase comparisons. Each of these three genes was then characterized by multiple sequence alignment where sets of orthologous genes across eight species with hair follicle development were compared to a distal species without hair follicle development. Structural gene regions associating with hair follicle development were identified. This enables future studies to be conducted for validating molecular function of these gene regions in hair follicle development.