LIPH Expression in Skin and Hair Follicles of Normal Coat and Rex Rabbits

Abstract

Natural mutations in the LIPH gene were shown to be responsible for hair growth defects in humans and for the rex short hair phenotype in rabbits. In this species, we identified a single nucleotide deletion in LIPH (1362delA) introducing a stop codon in the C-terminal region of the protein. We investigated the expression of LIPH between normal coat and rex rabbits during critical fetal stages of hair follicle genesis, in adults and during hair follicle cycles. Transcripts were three times less expressed in both fetal and adult stages of the rex rabbits than in normal rabbits. In addition, the hair growth cycle phases affected the regulation of the transcription level in the normal and mutant phenotypes differently. LIPH mRNA and protein levels were higher in the outer root sheath (ORS) than in the inner root sheath (IRS), with a very weak signal in the IRS of rex rabbits. In vitro transfection shows that the mutant protein has a reduced lipase activity compared to the wild type form. Our results contribute to the characterization of the LIPH mode of action and confirm the crucial role of LIPH in hair production.

LPA Induces Keratinocyte Differentiation and Promotes Skin Barrier Function through the LPAR1/LPAR5-RHO-ROCK-SRF Axis

“…LPA has previously been shown to induce keratinocyte proliferation through transforming growth factor-a induction (Piazza et al, 1995) and to enhance keratinocyte migration during wound healing (Jans et al, 2013). LPA has also been reported to be involved in the regulation of hair follicles in vivo, where the enzyme LIPH (also known as mPA-PLA 1 a), which is highly expressed in epidermal keratinocytes (Aoki et al, 2008;Diribarne et al, 2012), catalyzes the synthesis of LPA, which subsequently functions through LPAR6 (Shimomura et al, 2009;Inoue et al, 2011). Our current study has shown a role, to our knowledge previously unreported, for LPA in inducing keratinocyte differentiation and FLG expression through the LPAR1/5-RHO-ROCK-SRF signaling axis.…”

Analyses of histological and transcriptome differences in the skin of short-hair and long-hair rabbits

“…The segregation ratio of hair length in F2 generation was consistent with Mendel heredity principles (1:1, χ 2 = 0.564, P = 0.436). Normal rabbit fur is composed of three different types of hairs including coarse hairs, awn hairs, and fine hairs [66, 67]; the length of the different hair types was measured at the tenth week after plucking (Additional file 10: Figure S8). Finally, three female short-hair and long-hair rabbits were selected for the present study, respectively.

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Tracing selection signatures in the pig genome gives evidence for selective pressures on a unique curly hair phenotype in Mangalitza

“…It is well known that keratin (KRT) and keratin-associated-protein (KRTAP) genes, as main structural components of hair fiber 33 are frequently affected by variants associated with curly or woolly hair among humans and mammals 27,[30][31][32][34][35][36][37][38] . Further genes harboring variants for curly hair are lipase H gene (LIPH), lysophosphatidic acid receptor 6 gene (LPAR6), transcription factor (SP6) and serum-and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase gene (Sgk3) 28,29,32,[39][40][41] . Furthermore, an influence on hair curvature and follicle formation was suggested to be derived from epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-related pathways as well as WNT/ß-catenin-signaling pathway 42,43 .…”