Background: Different morphological structures of hairs having properties like defense and camouflage help animals survive in the wild environment. Horse is one of the rare kinds of animals with complex hair phenotypes in one individual; however, knowledge of horse hair follicle is limited in literature and their molecular basis remains unclear. Therefore, the investigation of horse hair follicle morphogenesis and pigmentogenesis attracts considerable interest.
Result: Histological studies revealed the morphology and pigment synthesis of hair follicles are different in between four different parts (mane, dorsal part, tail, and fetlock) of the bay Mongolian horse. Hair follicle size, density, and cycle are strongly associated with the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP). We observed a great difference in gene expression between the mane, tail, and fetlock, which had a greater different gene expression pattern compared with the dorsal part through transcriptomics. The development of the hair follicle in all four parts was related to angiogenesis, stem cells, Wnt, and IGF signaling pathways. Pigmentogenesis-related pathways were involved in their hair follicle pigment synthesis.
Conclusions: Hair follicle morphology and the activity of ALP differ among four body parts in bay Mongolian horse. Hair follicles of the different body parts of the are not synchronized in their cycle stages. GO terms show a regional specificity pattern between different skin parts of the bay Mongolian horse. These results provide an insight into the understanding of the biological mechanism of the hair follicle in other mammals.
Keywords: Hair follicle; Histology; Mongolian horse; Skin; Transcriptome.