Thyroid Hormone Receptor Agonist Promotes Hair Growth in Mice

Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2022 Feb 26:15:319-330. doi: 10.2147/CCID.S354219. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Background: Thyroxine is important to maintain the normal operation of the body. Both clinical and experimental results show thyroxine is closely related to hair growth, the mechanism of which is not fully understood.

Purpose: Investigate the effect of thyroxine receptor agonist, TDM10842, for dorsal hair growth in C3H mice and explore its underlying mechanism.

Methods: Depilated mice were applied with the TDM10842, vehicle of this drug and without any materials on dorsal skin. RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) was employed to identify the change in gene expression of skin tissues. Quantitative real-time PCR (rt-PCR) and immunoblotting were conducted to validate key differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between different groups.

Results: The TDM group showed early induction of anagen. 857, 782, and 276 differentially expressed genes were identified between 3 groups. As a critical DEG in group TDM, Pclaf was positively related to the motivation of Wnt/beta-catenin and Hedgehog signaling pathways, with a high expression of Ki67 and cyclinD1.

Conclusion: TDM10842 accelerates the anagen entrance and the potential mechanism might be the activation of Wnt/beta-catenin and Hedgehog pathways. Pclaf serves as a critical molecule involved in pathway activation, and cyclinD1 is an important effector protein downstream of the pathways.

Keywords: C3H mice; Hedgehog pathway; Pclaf; Wnt/beta-catenin pathway; hair cycle; thyroid hormone receptor.