Time-Course Expression Profiles of Hair Cycle-Associated Genes in Male Mini Rats after Depilation of Telogen-Phase Hairs

Aya Umeda-Ikawa,Isao Shimokawa,Kunio Doi

doi:10.3390/ijms10051967

Aya Umeda-Ikawa, Isao Shimokawa + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms10051967

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Abstract

Jcl:WistarTGN(ARGHGEN)1Nts rat (Mini rat) is a growth hormone (GH)-deficient transgenic rat. The hair cycle in the dorsal skin of male Mini rats enters a long-lasting telogen phase after eights weeks of age, but depilation can induce a transient hair cycle again. In this study, a time-course profiling of genes expression was done on the dorsal skin of male Mini rats along the progression of depilation-induced hair cycle using DNA microarray analysis. As a result, 1,215 probe sets including 1,171 hair cycle-related ones showed more than 3-fold changes in expression compared with that in before-depilation telogen phase. The present data will contribute to elucidating the mechanisms of hair cycle regulation and should lead to the identification of novel molecular targets for hair growth and/or depilation agents.

Highlights

The Jcl:WistarTGN(ARGHGEN)1Nts rat (Mini rat) is a transgenic rat in which the growth hormone (GH) expression is suppressed by the presence of an antisense transgene for the rat GH gene located under the GH promoter gene expressed in the pituitary [1]
Two cycles of four weeks each are observed in both strains during the first eight weeks after birth, but the cycle enters a long-lasting telogen phase until at least 24 weeks of age in Mini rats, while the 3rd cycle starts in Wistar rats immediately afterwards, though it is unsynchronized [3]
The hair follicles of GH-deficient male Mini rats remain in a long-lasting telogen phase after 8 weeks of age, but depilation of telogen-phase hairs can induce a transient hair cycle again

Summary

Introduction

The Jcl:WistarTGN(ARGHGEN)1Nts rat (Mini rat) is a transgenic rat in which the growth hormone (GH) expression is suppressed by the presence of an antisense transgene for the rat GH gene located under the GH promoter gene expressed in the pituitary [1]. The dorsal skin hair follicles of male Mini rats under such long-lasting telogen phase are anagen-inducible, and a transient cycle is able to be induced again by hair plucking [5] or by traumatic stimulus [6]. This suggests that Mini rats may lack an adequate internal stimuli or signals essential to transition from telogen to anagen after eight weeks of age, but certain external stimuli are able to work as a trigger driving hair growth cycle

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