Abstract
The epidermis, which consists mainly of keratinocytes, acts as a physical barrier to infections by regulating keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation. Hair follicles undergo continuous cycling to produce new one. Therefore, optimum supply of energy from the mitochondria is essential for maintaining skin homeostasis and hair growth. CRIF1 is a mitochondrial protein that regulates mitoribosome-mediated synthesis and insertion of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation polypeptides into the mitochondrial membrane in mammals. Recent studies reveal that conditional knockout (cKO) of Crif1 in specific tissues of mice induced mitochondrial dysfunction. To determine whether the mitochondrial function of keratinocytes affects skin homeostasis and hair morphogenesis, we generated epidermis-specific Crif1 cKO mice. Deletion of Crif1 in epidermis resulted in impaired mitochondrial function and Crif1 cKO mice died within a week. Keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation were markedly inhibited in Crif1 cKO mice. Furthermore, hair follicle morphogenesis of Crif1 cKO mice was disrupted by down-regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. These results demonstrate that mitochondrial function in keratinocytes is essential for maintaining epidermal homeostasis and hair follicle morphogenesis.
Highlights
The epidermis, which consists mainly of keratinocytes, acts as a physical barrier to infections by regulating keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation
As Wnt/β-catenin signaling is essential for hair follicle morphogenesis and cycling in vivo[20,21], we examined whether Wnt/β-catenin signaling was affected by loss of Crif[1]
A recent study has revealed that CRIF1 is a mitochondrial protein, which is critical for mitochondrial function as it regulates the synthesis and insertion of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) polypeptides in the inner mitochondrial membrane
Summary
The epidermis, which consists mainly of keratinocytes, acts as a physical barrier to infections by regulating keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation. Recent studies reveal that conditional knockout (cKO) of Crif[1] in specific tissues of mice induced mitochondrial dysfunction. To determine whether the mitochondrial function of keratinocytes affects skin homeostasis and hair morphogenesis, we generated epidermis-specific Crif[1] cKO mice. Hair follicle morphogenesis of Crif[1] cKO mice was disrupted by down-regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. These results demonstrate that mitochondrial function in keratinocytes is essential for maintaining epidermal homeostasis and hair follicle morphogenesis. A recent study shows that CRIF1 is a mitochondrial protein which regulates the synthesis and insertion of OXPHOS polypeptides by interacting with the mitoribosomal large subunit[12]. The relationship between mitochondrial dysfunction and skin diseases has been www.nature.com/scientificreports/
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