Exploring the role of dermal sheath cells in wound healing and fibrosis.

Wound healing is a complex, dynamic process involving the coordinated interaction of diverse cell types, growth factors, cytokines, and extracellular matrix components. Despite emerging evidence highlighting their importance, dermal sheath cells remain a largely overlooked aspect of wound healing research. This review explores the multifunctional roles of dermal sheath cells in various phases of wound healing, including modulating inflammation, aiding in proliferation, and contributing to extracellular matrix remodelling. Special attention is devoted to the paracrine effects of dermal sheath cells and their role in fibrosis, highlighting their potential in improving healing outcomes, especially in differentiating between hairy and non-hairy skin sites. By drawing connections between dermal sheath cells activity and wound healing outcomes, this work proposes new insights into the mechanisms of tissue regeneration and repair, marking a step forward in our understanding of wound healing processes.

Establishment of dermal sheath cell line from Cashmere goat and characterizing cytokeratin 13 as its novel biomarker.

OBJECTIVE: To establish a dermal sheath cell line, a dermal papilla cell line and a outer root sheath cell line from Cashmere goat and clarify the similarities and differences among them. RESULTS: We established a dermal sheath cell line, a dermal papilla cell line and a outer root sheath cell line from the pelage skin hair follicles of Cashmere goat. The growth rate of dermal sheath cells was intermediate between that of dermal papilla cells and outer root sheath cells. Immunofluorescence experiments and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that at both the transcriptional and translational levels, the dermal sheath cells were alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA)+/cytokeratin 13+, while the dermal papilla cells were α-SMA+/cytokeratin 13- and the outer root sheath cells were α-SMA-/cytokeratin 13+. Patterns of cytokeratin 13 expression could distinguish the dermal sheath cells from the dermal papilla cells. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that cytokeratin 13 could serve as a novel biomarker for dermal sheath cells of Cashmere goat, and should prove useful for researchers investigating dermal stem cells or interaction of different types of cells during hair cycle.

Transcriptome sequencing reveals differences between anagen and telogen secondary hair follicle-derived dermal papilla cells of the Cashmere goat (Capra hircus).

Dermal papilla is considered the control center of hair follicle growth and hair cycle. The secondary hair follicle (producing cashmere) growth cycle of the Cashmere goat (Capra hircus) is circannual, and each growth phase can be easily distinguished by its long duration. To identify gene expression patterns and differences of the dermal papilla cell (DPC) between the anagen and telogen phases, we established two DPC lines: ana-DPCs (DPCs derived from the anagen secondary hair follicle) and tel-DPCs (DPCs derived from the telogen secondary hair follicle). Compared with the ana-DPCs, the tel-DPCs lost the capacity to form cell aggregates and showed lower cell proliferation rate. Transcriptome sequencing revealed that 825 genes were differentially expressed by at least threefold between the two DPC lines. These genes were significantly enriched in cell cycle control, cell division, and chromosome partitioning from the Eukaryotic Orthologous Groups of proteins (KOG) database and in cell cycle, cell adhesion molecules, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, and p53 signaling pathway from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genomes (KEGG) database. Enrichment analyses revealed that in the middle of the telogen the DPCs of secondary hair follicles (SHFs) seemed on the one hand to promote the degeneration of SHFs and cessation of cashmere growth, while on the other hand to resist self-apoptosis and prepare for the regeneration or revivification of fully functional dermal papillae. These findings provide a better understanding of hair follicle growth and will be useful for identification of novel molecules associated with the control of hair growth cycle.

[Community structure of ammonia-oxidizing prokaryotes at the dry-up lake in Huitengxile grassland].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the structure of ammonia-oxidation microbial communities in the wetlands to dry-up process at 99 degraded lakes of the Huitengxile grassland in the Inner Mongolia Plateau. METHODS: The microbial quantity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were examined by most probable number-polymerase chain reaction (MPN-PCR). The clone libraries of amoA were constructed and phylogenetics were analyzed. With analysis of the soil properties, we evaluated the effects of wetlands degradation on ammonia-oxidation microbes communities. RESULTS: In 75% of the samples, the quantity of AOB communities was higher than that of AOA; moreover, quantity of bacterial were up to 18.1-fold more abundant than Archaea's. The AOB microbial quantity was strongly correlated with NH4+-N content in the soil. Phylogenetic analyses of the amoA gene fragments showed that most AOB sequences from degraded wetlands were affiliated with Nitrosomonas-like species and a few close to Nitrosospira. All AOA sequences belonged to the kingdom Crenarchaeote. CONCLUSION: Experimental results showed that quantity of ammonia-oxidation microbes increased but community diversity declined during wetlands degradation , and oxidation conditions and ammonium concentration in the soil might play important roles in the community structure of both the AOA and AOB.