Defining ovine dermal papilla cell markers and identifying key signaling pathways regulating its intrinsic properties

Shanhe Wang; Tingyan Hu; Mingliang He; Yifei Gu; Xiukai Cao; Zehu Yuan; Xiaoyang Lv; Tesfaye Getachew; Kai Quan; Wei Sun

doi:10.3389/fvets.2023.1127501

Defining ovine dermal papilla cell markers and identifying key signaling pathways regulating its intrinsic properties

Front Vet Sci. 2023 Feb 27:10:1127501. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1127501. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Shanhe Wang^{1

2}, Tingyan Hu^{1

2}, Mingliang He^{1

2}, Yifei Gu^{1

2}, Xiukai Cao^{2

3}, Zehu Yuan^{2

3}, Xiaoyang Lv^{2

3}, Tesfaye Getachew⁴, Kai Quan⁵, Wei Sun^{1

2

3

6}

Affiliations

¹ College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
² Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety of Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
³ International Joint Research Laboratory in Universities of Jiangsu Province of China for Domestic Animal Germplasm Resources and Genetic Improvement, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
⁴ International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁵ College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan University of Animal Husbandry and Economy, Zhengzhou, China.
⁶ "Innovative China" "Belt and Road" International Agricultural Technology Innovation Institute for Evaluation, Protection, and Improvement on Sheep Genetic Resource, Yangzhou, China.

Abstract

Dermal papilla cell (DPC), one of the key cell types during hair follicle development and regeneration, specifies hair size, shape and cycling. It is also an important in vitro screening model for hair growth. Although some characteristics of DPCs, such as agglutinative growth and marker genes, have been studied in mice and humans, the intrinsic properties of ovine DPCs and the regulatory mechanism of the intrinsic properties during continued culture in vitro remained unknown. In this study, based on our previous single-cell transcriptome sequencing on sheep lambskin, we verified SOX18 and PDGFRA as the novel marker genes of ovine DPCs through immunofluorescence staining on skin sections and cultured DPCs. Using continued cell culture and alkaline phosphatase staining, we found that different from mice and humans, ovine DPCs exhibit particularly robust and stable aggregation with unbated alkaline phosphatase activity till 30 passages during continued culture in vitro. Also, we found that the expression of some marker genes and the activity of Wnt/β-catenin signaling differ between early passaged DPCs and multiple passaged DPCs. Further, using Wnt/β-catenin agonist and antagonist, we demonstrated that Wnt/β-catenin signaling could regulate cell aggregation and alkaline phosphatase activity of ovine DPCs through regulating FGF and IGF signaling. This study provides the basis for isolating ovine DPCs and defines their intrinsic properties, which contribute to improving wool performance and medicine of hair regeneration.

Keywords: PDGFRA; SOX18; Wnt/β-catenin; dermal papilla cell; hair-inducing activity; marker gene.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32172689), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20210810), the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (20KJB230003 and 22KJA230001), Major New Varieties of Agricultural Projects in Jiangsu Province (PZCZ201739), National Natural Science Foundation of China-CGIAR (32061143036), Major Project of Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (2022D01D47), High-end Foreign Expert Introduction Project (G2022014148L), Jiangsu 333 Distinguished Talents Project Foundation [(2022) 2-323], and Distinguished Talents Project Foundation of Yangzhou University.