Slc7a11 Modulated by POU2F1 is Involved in Pigmentation in Rabbit.

Yang Chen,Naisu Yang,Manman Wang,Cigen Zhu,Bohao Zhao,Xinsheng Wu,Guolian Bao,Shuaishuai Hu,Lin Mu

doi:10.3390/ijms20102493

Abstract

Solute carrier family 7 member 11 (Slc7a11) is a cystine/glutamate xCT transporter that controls the production of pheomelanin pigment to change fur and skin color in animals. Previous studies have found that skin expression levels of Slc7a11 varied significantly with fur color in Rex rabbits. However, the molecular regulation mechanism of Slc7a11 in pigmentation is unknown. Here, rabbit melanocytes were first isolated and identified. The distribution and expression pattern of Slc7a11 was confirmed in skin from rabbits with different fur colors. Slc7a11 affected the expression of pigmentation related genes and thus affected melanogenesis. Meanwhile, Slc7a11 decreased melanocyte apoptosis, but inhibition of Slc7a11 enhanced apoptosis. Furthermore, the POU2F1 protein was found to bind to the −713 to −703 bp region of Slc7a11 promoter to inhibit its activity in a dual-luciferase reporter and site-directed mutagenesis assay. This study reveals the function of the Slc7a11 in melanogenesis and provides in-depth analysis of the mechanism of fur pigmentation.

Highlights

The fur color of mammals mainly depends on melanin deposition, and melanogenesis is mainly regulated by melanocytes
The results showed that siRNA-2 and siRNA-3 interferences were significantly lower than that of the blank group (p < 0.05), and siRNA-3 had the best effect (Figure 3a,b). pEGFP-N1-Slc7a11 was expressed in melanocytes and the expression of Slc7a11 was significantly increased in these cells (p < 0.01) (Figure 4a,b)
The results suggested that Slc7a11 affects the expression of pigmentation-related genes such as TYR and MITF, and affects melanogenesis by melanocytes

Summary

Introduction

The fur color of mammals mainly depends on melanin deposition, and melanogenesis is mainly regulated by melanocytes. The production of different types of melanin by melanocytes, together with different distribution of these pigments, result in a variety of hair colors in mammals [1]. Related genes, such as TYR, TYRP1, ASIP, MITF, and CREB1, have been found to regulate melanin deposition [2,3]. The sut mutation results in a huge deletion in the Slc7a11 gene, but similar deletions could not be found in this region of Rex Rabbits with six different fur colors, including black (BL), chinchilla (CH), white (WH), brown (BR), protein yellow (PY), and protein chinchilla (PC).

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion