Role of Sulfur Metabolism Gene and High-Sulfur Gene Expression in Wool Growth Regulation in the Cashmere Goat

Sulfur, an essential mineral element for animals, mainly exists in the form of organic sulfur-containing amino acids (SAAs), such as cystine, methionine, and cysteine, within the body. The content, form, and structure of sulfur play an important role in determining the wool fiber quality. In addition, keratin-associated proteins, one of the most crucial wool fiber components, are rich in SAAs. However, sulfur metabolism from the blood to the skin and hair follicles remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed high-sulfur protein gene and sulfur metabolism genes in the cashmere goat and explored the effects of melatonin on their expression. In total, 53 high-sulfur protein genes and 321 sulfur metabolism genes were identified. We found that high-sulfur protein genes were distributed in the 3–4 and 144M regions of chromosome 1 and the 40–41M region of chromosome 19 in goats. Moreover, all year round, allele-specific expression (ASE) is higher in the 40–41M region of chromosome 19 than in the other regions. Total of 47 high-sulfur protein genes showed interaction with transcription factors and cofactors with ASE. These transcription factors and cofactors were inhibited after melatonin implantation. The network analysis revealed that melatonin may activate the sulfur metabolism process via the regulation of the genes related to cell energy metabolism and cell cycle in the skin, which provided sufficient SAAs for wool and cashmere growth. In conclusion, our findings provide a new insight into wool growth regulation by sulfur metabolism genes and high-sulfur protein genes in cashmere goats.

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Expression patterns of signalling molecules and transcription factors in the early rabbit embryo and their significance for modelling amniote axis formation

Development Genes and Evolution ◽

10.1007/s00427-021-00677-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ruben Plöger ◽

Christoph Viebahn

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factors ◽

Expression Patterns ◽

In Situ Hybridisation ◽

Body Plan ◽

The Body ◽

Anchor Point ◽

Axis Formation ◽

Point Model ◽

Signalling Molecules ◽

Rabbit Embryo

AbstractThe anterior-posterior axis is a central element of the body plan and, during amniote gastrulation, forms through several transient domains with specific morphogenetic activities. In the chick, experimentally proven activity of signalling molecules and transcription factors lead to the concept of a ‘global positioning system’ for initial axis formation whereas in the (mammotypical) rabbit embryo, a series of morphological or molecular domains are part of a putative ‘three-anchor-point model’. Because circular expression patterns of genes involved in axis formation exist in both amniote groups prior to, and during, gastrulation and may thus be suited to reconcile these models, the expression patterns of selected genes known in the chick, namely the ones coding for the transcription factors eomes and tbx6, the signalling molecule wnt3 and the wnt inhibitor pkdcc, were analysed in the rabbit embryonic disc using in situ hybridisation and placing emphasis on their germ layer location. Peripheral wnt3 and eomes expression in all layers is found initially to be complementary to central pkdcc expression in the hypoblast during early axis formation. Pkdcc then appears — together with a posterior-anterior gradient in wnt3 and eomes domains — in the epiblast posteriorly before the emerging primitive streak is marked by pkdcc and tbx6 at its anterior and posterior extremities, respectively. Conserved circular expression patterns deduced from some of this data may point to shared mechanisms in amniote axis formation while the reshaping of localised gene expression patterns is discussed as part of the ‘three-anchor-point model’ for establishing the mammalian body plan.

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Detection of 15-bp Deletion Mutation within PLAG1 Gene and Its Effects on Growth Traits in Goats

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11072064 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 2064

Author(s):

Zhenyu Wei ◽

Ke Wang ◽

Hui Wu ◽

Zhen Wang ◽

Chuanying Pan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Weight ◽

Growth Traits ◽

Body Height ◽

The Body ◽

Chest Circumference ◽

Dairy Goat ◽

Cashmere Goat ◽

Indel Mutation ◽

Body Stature ◽

Body Index

Stature and weight are important growth and development traits for animals, which also significantly affect the productivity of livestock. Polymorphic adenoma gene 1 (PLAG1) is located in the growth-related quantitative trait nucleotides (QTN), and its variation has been determined to significantly affect the body stature of bovines. This study found that novel 15-bp InDel could significantly influence important growth traits in goats. The frequencies of genotypes of the 15-bp mutation and relationship with core growth traits such as body weight, body height, height at hip cross, chest circumference, hip width and body index were explored in 1581 individuals among 4 Chinese native goat breeds. The most frequent genotypes of Shaanbei white Cashmere goat (SWCG), Inner Mongolia White Cashmere goat (IMCG) and Guanzhong Dairy goat (GZDG) were II genotypes (insertion/insertion), and the frequency of ID genotype (insertion/deletion) was found to be slightly higher than that of II genotype in Hainan Black goat (HNBG), showing that the frequency of the I allele was higher than that of the D allele. In adult goats, there were significant differences between 15-bp variation and body weight, chest circumference and body height traits in SWCG (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the locus was also found to be significantly correlated with the body index of HNBG (p = 0.044) and hip width in GZDG (p = 0.002). In regard to lambs, there were significant differences in height at the hip cross of SWCG (p = 0.036) and hip width in IMWC (p = 0.005). The corresponding results suggest that the 15-bp InDel mutation of PLAG1 is associated with the regulation of important growth characteristics of both adult and lamb of goats, which may serve as efficient molecular markers for goat breeding.

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Wool growth regulation by local skin cooling

Animal Science ◽

10.1017/s0003356100038691 ◽

1967 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 393-397 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

J. M. Doney ◽

J. G. Griffiths

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Growth Rate ◽

Blood Flow ◽

Growth Regulation ◽

Fibre Diameter ◽

Systemic Response ◽

Local Cooling ◽

Local Skin ◽

Wool Growth ◽

Skin Cooling

Local cooling of the skin, produced by exposure to wind was shown to depress the rate of length growth of wool. The depression was associated with reductions in skin temperature and blood flow and with increases in heat transfer in the exposed regions. Fibre diameter did not appear to be affected and there were no indications of a systemic response of wool growth rate to exposure.

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Depilatory effects of certain chemicals during the first hair growth cycle in sucking mice

Laboratory Animals ◽

10.1258/002367778781088431 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 185-192 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

B. A. Panaretto ◽

D. A. Tunks ◽

S. Munro

Keyword(s):

Body Weight ◽

Hair Growth ◽

Growth Cycle ◽

The Body ◽

Complete Inhibition ◽

Hair Cycle ◽

Wool Growth ◽

Good Agreement

The chemicals were administered, subcutaneously, orally or topically. Generally, the depilation produced in the mice by mimosine or cyclophosphamide differed from that produced by the steroid analogues tested. In the first 2 cases almost completely naked mice were commonly seen, while in the steroid-treated groups the complete inhibition of all hair fibres was rare. This is discussed in relation to the effects of the same compounds on wool growth in sheep. When related to body weight, the doses of cyclophosphamide (62 mg/kg0.75) and dexamethasone (5-10 mg/kg0.75), that depilated mice in our experiments were in good agreement with those reported to inhibit the growth of wool fibres in some sheep. An example of synergism in depilatory effect between dexamethasone and cyclophosphamide is also presented. The time of onset and the initial spread over the body of the 2nd hair cycle in depilated mice was observed.

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Transcription Factors Active in the Anterior Blastema of Schmidtea mediterranea

Biomolecules ◽

10.3390/biom11121782 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. 1782

Author(s):

Yoko Suzuki-Horiuchi ◽

Henning Schmitz ◽

Carlotta Barlassina ◽

David Eccles ◽

Martina Sinn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stem Cells ◽

Transcription Factors ◽

Pluripotent Stem Cells ◽

The Body ◽

Body Parts ◽

Human Beings ◽

Medical Treatments ◽

Induced Pluripotent ◽

Anterior Regeneration

Regeneration, the restoration of body parts after injury, is quite widespread in the animal kingdom. Species from virtually all Phyla possess regenerative abilities. Human beings, however, are poor regenerators. Yet, the progress of knowledge and technology in the fields of bioengineering, stem cells, and regenerative biology have fostered major advancements in regenerative medical treatments, which aim to regenerate tissues and organs and restore function. Human induced pluripotent stem cells can differentiate into any cell type of the body; however, the structural and cellular complexity of the human tissues, together with the inability of our adult body to control pluripotency, require a better mechanistic understanding. Planarians, with their capacity to regenerate lost body parts thanks to the presence of adult pluripotent stem cells could help providing such an understanding. In this paper, we used a top-down approach to shortlist blastema transcription factors (TFs) active during anterior regeneration. We found 44 TFs—31 of which are novel in planarian—that are expressed in the regenerating blastema. We analyzed the function of half of them and found that they play a role in the regeneration of anterior structures, like the anterior organizer, the positional instruction muscle cells, the brain, the photoreceptor, the intestine. Our findings revealed a glimpse of the complexity of the transcriptional network governing anterior regeneration in planarians, confirming that this animal model is the perfect playground to study in vivo how pluripotency copes with adulthood.

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Detection of rs665862918 (15-bp Indel) of the HIAT1 Gene and its Strong Genetic Effects on Growth Traits in Goats

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani10020358 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 358

Author(s):

Jiayang Gao ◽

Xiaoyue Song ◽

Hui Wu ◽

Qi Tang ◽

Zhenyu Wei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Buffalo ◽

Growth Traits ◽

Growth Trait ◽

The Body ◽

Selective Sweeps ◽

Cashmere Goat ◽

First Intron ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Sequencing Strategy ◽

Abundant Transcript

The hippocampus abundant transcript 1 (HIAT1) gene, which was detected by the genome-wide identification of selective sweeps among elite goat breeds and water buffalo, is proposed to play an important role in meat characteristics. Four indels of the HIAT1 gene selected from the NCBI and Ensembl databases were detected via a pooling and sequencing strategy. A 15 bp insertion (rs665862918) in the first intron of HIAT1 was selected and classified on an electrophoresis platform in the Shaanbei white cashmere goat (SBWC) population. The correlation analysis revealed that rs665862918 is significantly highly associated with chest width (p = 1.57 × 10−5), chest depth (p = 8.85 × 10−5), heart girth (p = 1.05 × 10−7), body length (p = 0.022), and height at hip cross (p = 0.023) in the SBWC population (n = 1013). Further analysis revealed that individuals with a genotype insertion/insertion (II) of the rs665862918 locus exhibited better growth trait performance than individuals with an insertion/deletion (ID) or deletion/deletion (DD). These findings verify that HIAT1 affects the body size of goats and that rs665862918 could be a potential molecular marker for growth traits in goat breeding.

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Does Calorie Restriction Modulate Inflammaging via FoxO Transcription Factors?

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu12071959 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 1959

Author(s):

Sang-Eun Kim ◽

Ryoichi Mori ◽

Isao Shimokawa

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factors ◽

Calorie Restriction ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Functional Decline ◽

Cell Lineage ◽

Myeloid Cell ◽

The Body ◽

Pyrin Domain ◽

Foxo Transcription Factors

Calorie restriction (CR) has been shown to extend lifespan and retard aging-related functional decline in animals. Previously, we found that the anti-neoplastic and lifespan-extending effects of CR in mice are regulated by forkhead box O transcription factors (FoxO1 and FoxO3), located downstream of growth hormone (GH)–insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 signaling, in an isoform-specific manner. Inflammaging is a term coined to represent that persistent low-level of inflammation underlies the progression of aging and related diseases. Attenuation of inflammaging in the body may underlie the effects of CR. Recent studies have also identified cellular senescence and activation of the nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich-containing family, pyrin-domain-containing-3 (NLRP3) inflammasome as causative factors of inflammaging. In this paper, we reviewed the current knowledge of the molecular mechanisms linking the effects of CR with the formation of inflammasomes, particularly focusing on possible relations with FoxO3. Inflammation in the brain that affects adult neurogenesis and lifespan was also reviewed as evidence of inflammaging. A recent progress of microRNA research was described as regulatory circuits of initiation and propagation of inflammaging. Finally, we briefly introduced our preliminary results obtained from the mouse models, in which Foxo1 and Foxo3 genes were conditionally knocked out in the myeloid cell lineage.

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Inhibition of DNA synthesis in dermal tissue of Merino sheep treated with depilatory doses of mouse epidermal growth factor

Journal of Endocrinology ◽

10.1677/joe.0.1000025 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 100 (1) ◽

pp. 25-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

B. A. Panaretto ◽

Z. Leish ◽

G. P. M. Moore ◽

D. M. Robertson

Keyword(s):

Growth Factor ◽

Epidermal Growth Factor ◽

Dna Content ◽

Thymidine Incorporation ◽

The Body ◽

Pretreatment Level ◽

Wool Growth ◽

Epidermal Growth ◽

The Mean ◽

Inhibition Of Dna Synthesis

ABSTRACT Two groups of three Merino wethers were infused intravenously with either 0·12 mg mouse epidermal growth factor (mEGF)/kg fleece-free body weight or 0·9% (w/v) NaCl over 24 h. Sheep treated with mEGF rejected food during treatment but feed intake was kept equal for both groups. Wool growth and plasma concentrations of mEGF were measured during the experiment. Pieces of skin taken from the wool-growing regions of the body were incubated with radioactive thymidine in order to measure its rate of incorporation into DNA. The skin was then divided at about the level of the sebaceous glands into sections that contained the upper dermis and epidermis (E sections) and those containing the generative wool-follicle bulbs (D sections). No mEGF was detected in the controls whereas mean levels of about 35 μg mEGF/l plasma were detected during the last 4 h of infusion in the protein-treated group. After infusion, wool growth was reduced by about 20% of the mean pretreatment level in the controls and no shedding of wool fibre was evident. In the mEGF-treated sheep, on the other hand, wool growth was depressed by 75–95% of the mean pretreatment level and the fleeces were almost completely cast in all three of the animals, leaving them nude on the wool-growing regions of the body. Wool growth was restored to its pretreatment level in this group about 1 month after infusion. The D sections of skin contributed 50–60% of skin wet weight in controls throughout the experiment. In the mEGF group, however, E sections increased in weight by about 25% and D sections decreased by 25%, relative to pretreatment values, during the 2 weeks after infusion. Both skin sections contributed equally to skin weight thereafter. Whereas the DNA content of E sections tended to increase after mEGF treatment there was a loss of 40%, relative to pretreatment values, in the DNA content of D sections. A significant decrease in thymidine incorporation into DNA in D sections was found, which lasted for at least 72 h after the start of infusion. Thymidine incorporation into E sections was raised during this period and again at about 10–14 days after infusion, when it was increased in both skin sections. We have concluded that the inhibition of wool growth in the mEGF-treated animals was associated with the inhibition of DNA synthesis in the dermal skin sections which contain proliferating cells of wool follicles. J. Endocr. (1984) 100, 25–31

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A Fork in the Path: Developing Therapeutic Inroads with FoxO Proteins

Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity ◽

10.4161/oxim.2.3.8916 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 119-129 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Kenneth Maiese ◽

Jinling Hou ◽

Zhao Zhong Chong ◽

Yan Chen Shang

Keyword(s):

Oxidative Stress ◽

Transcription Factors ◽

Cellular Proliferation ◽

Cell Injury ◽

Clinical Care ◽

Immune Surveillance ◽

The Body ◽

Wnt Proteins ◽

Promote Cell Survival ◽

Novel Therapeutic Strategies

Advances in clinical care for disorders involving any system of the body necessitates novel therapeutic strategies that can focus upon the modulation of cellular proliferation, metabolism, inflammation and longevity. In this respect, members of the mammalian forkhead transcription factors of the O class (FoxOs) that include FoxO1, FoxO3, FoxO4 and FoxO6 are increasingly being recognized as exciting prospects for multiple disorders. These transcription factors govern development, proliferation, survival and longevity during multiple cellular environments that can involve oxidative stress. Furthermore, these transcription factors are closely integrated with several novel signal transduction pathways, such as erythropoietin and Wnt proteins, that may influence the ability of FoxOs to act as a “double-edge sword” to sometimes promote cell survival, but at other times lead to cell injury. Here we discuss the fascinating but complex role of FoxOs during cellular injury and oxidative stress, progenitor cell development, fertility, angiogenesis, cardiovascular function, cellular metabolism and diabetes, cell longevity, immune surveillance and cancer.

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A genetic basis of variation in eccrine sweat gland and hair follicle density

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1511680112 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 112 (32) ◽

pp. 9932-9937 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Yana G. Kamberov ◽

Elinor K. Karlsson ◽

Gerda L. Kamberova ◽

Daniel E. Lieberman ◽

Pardis C. Sabeti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hair Follicle ◽

Genetic Regulation ◽

Eccrine Sweat Gland ◽

Hair Follicles ◽

The Body ◽

Chromosome 1 ◽

Sweat Glands ◽

Eccrine Gland ◽

Eccrine Glands ◽

Eccrine Sweat

Among the unique features of humans, one of the most salient is the ability to effectively cool the body during extreme prolonged activity through the evapotranspiration of water on the skin’s surface. The evolution of this novel physiological ability required a dramatic increase in the density and distribution of eccrine sweat glands relative to other mammals and a concomitant reduction of body hair cover. Elucidation of the genetic underpinnings for these adaptive changes is confounded by a lack of knowledge about how eccrine gland fate and density are specified during development. Moreover, although reciprocal changes in hair cover and eccrine gland density are required for efficient thermoregulation, it is unclear if these changes are linked by a common genetic regulation. To identify pathways controlling the relative patterning of eccrine glands and hair follicles, we exploited natural variation in the density of these organs between different strains of mice. Quantitative trait locus mapping identified a large region on mouse Chromosome 1 that controls both hair and eccrine gland densities. Differential and allelic expression analysis of the genes within this interval coupled with subsequent functional studies demonstrated that the level of En1 activity directs the relative numbers of eccrine glands and hair follicles. These findings implicate En1 as a newly identified and reciprocal determinant of hair follicle and eccrine gland density and identify a pathway that could have contributed to the evolution of the unique features of human skin.

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