EDA and EDAR expression at different stages of hair follicle development in cashmere goats and effects on expression of related genes

Abstract

This study is focused on the detection of ectodysplasin A (EDA) and ectodysplasin A receptor (EDAR) mRNA expression levels and protein positions in seven stages of cashmere goat fetus development (45, 55, 65, 75 95, 115, and 135 d), with the main goal of investigating the effect of EDA and EDAR on genes related to hair follicle development. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to measure EDA and EDAR expression levels in seven stages of cashmere goat fetus development. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to locate EDA and EDAR in the critical stage of fetal hair follicle development (45–135 d). EDA and EDAR expression in fetal fibroblasts and epithelial cells was interfered with by short hairpin RNA (sh-RNA). The results indicated that EDA and EDAR were both expressed in the skin tissue in the seven cashmere goat embryo stages. Moreover, EDA and EDAR play an important role in the formation of embryonic placode (Pc). After interfering with EDA and EDAR, the expression of BMP2, BMP4, noggin, β-catenin, TGF-β2, Wnt-10b, and NOTCH1 in fibroblasts and epithelial cells changed significantly. This study provides a theoretical and experimental basis for further studying the molecular regulation mechanism of hair follicle development.