Pyridoxine regulates hair follicle development via the PI3K/Akt, Wnt and Notch signalling pathways in rex rabbits

Gongyan Liu; Guangmin Cheng; Yongcui Zhang; Shuxia Gao; Haitao Sun; Liya Bai; Shu Li; Yanli Zhu; Chunyang Wang; Fuchang Li

doi:10.1016/j.aninu.2021.09.003

Pyridoxine regulates hair follicle development via the PI3K/Akt, Wnt and Notch signalling pathways in rex rabbits

Anim Nutr. 2021 Dec;7(4):1162-1172. doi: 10.1016/j.aninu.2021.09.003. Epub 2021 Oct 2.

Authors

Gongyan Liu^{1

2}, Guangmin Cheng³, Yongcui Zhang³, Shuxia Gao², Haitao Sun², Liya Bai², Shu Li¹, Yanli Zhu¹, Chunyang Wang¹, Fuchang Li¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Animal Science and Technology, Shandong Agricultural University; Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Biotechnology and Disease Control and Prevention, Tai'an 271018, China.
² Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Shandong Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Control and Breeding, Jinan 251000, China.
³ Shandong Vocational Animal Science and Veterinary College, Weifang 261061, China.

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of pyridoxine on the development of hair follicles in Rex rabbits and the underlying molecular mechanism. Two hundred 3-month-old Rex rabbits were randomly divided into 5 groups and fed diets supplemented with 0, 5, 10, 20, or 40 mg/kg pyridoxine. The hair follicle density on the dorsal skin and the gene and protein expression levels of components of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (PKB or Akt), Wnt, Notch and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signalling pathways were measured. In addition, free hair follicles were isolated from Rex rabbits and cultured with pyridoxine in vitro to measure hair shaft growth. Furthermore, dermal papilla cells (DPC) were isolated from the skin of Rex rabbits and cultured with pyridoxine in vitro to measure the gene and protein expression levels of components of the PI3K/Akt, Wnt, Notch and BMP signalling pathways. The results showed that the addition of dietary pyridoxine significantly increased the total follicle density, secondary follicle density, and secondary-to-primary ratio (S/P, P < 0.05), that the growth ratio of hair stems was promoted by pyridoxine in basic culture medium, and that the growth length of tentacle hair follicles cultured in the pyridoxine group was longer than that in the control group (P < 0.05). In addition, pyridoxine changed the DPC cycle progression and promoted cell proliferation, and appropriate concentrations of pyridoxine (10 and 20 μmol/L) significantly inhibited cell apoptosis (P < 0.05). Pyridoxine significantly affected the gene expression of components of the PI3K/Akt, Wnt and Notch signalling pathways in the skin and DPC of Rex rabbits (P < 0.05), increased the levels of phosphorylated catenin beta 1 (CTNNB1) and Akt, and decreased the level of phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3β) (P < 0.05). Therefore, the molecular mechanism by which pyridoxine promotes hair follicle density in Rex rabbits probably occurs through activation of the PI3K/Akt, Wnt and Notch signalling pathways, prolonging hair follicle growth and delaying the onset of telogen.

Keywords: Dermal papilla cell; Hair follicle development; Pyridoxine; Rex rabbit.