Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Reveals that a Ubiquitin-Mediated Proteolysis Pathway Is Important for Primary and Secondary Hair Follicle Development in Cashmere Goats.

BACKGROUND: The fleece of cashmere goats contains two distinct populations of fibers, a short and fine non-medullated insulating cashmere fiber and a long and coarse medullated guard hair. The former is produced by secondary follicles (SFs) and the later by primary follicles (PFs). Evidence suggests that the induction of PFs and SFs may require different signaling pathways. The regulation of BMP2/4 signaling by noggin and Edar signaling via Downless genes are essential for the induction of SFs and PFs, respectively. However, these differently expressed genes of the signaling pathway cannot directly distinguish between the PFs and SFs. RESULTS: In this study, we selected RNA samples from 11 PFs and 7 SFs that included 145,525 exons. The pathway analysis of 4512 differentially expressed exons revealed that the most statistically significant metabolic pathway was related to the ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis pathway (UMPP) (P<3.32x 10-7). In addition, the 51 exons of the UMPP that were differentially expressed between the different types of hair follicle (HFs) were compared by cluster analysis. This resulted in the PFs and SFs being divided into two classes. The expression level of two selected exons was analyzed by qRT-PCR, and the results indicated that the expression patterns were consistent with the deep sequencing results obtained by RNA-Seq. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the comparative transcriptome analysis of 18 HFs from cashmere goats, a large number of differentially expressed exons were identified using a high-throughput sequencing approach. This study suggests that UMPP activation is a prominent signaling pathway for distinguishing the PFs and SFs of cashmere goats. It is also a meaningful contribution to the theoretical basis of the biological study of the HFs of cashmere goats and other mammals.

[Clinical observation on auxiliary treatment of hormone dependence dermatitis by shufeng liangxue decoction].

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical efficacy of Shufeng Liangxue Decoction (SLD) in treating hormone dependence dermatitis (HDD). METHODS: One hundred and sixteen patients with HDD were randomly assigned to two groups. Both were treated with symptomatic Western medical therapy, including oral taken of loratadine 10 mg, and intravenous injection of 10% calglucon 10 mL and vitamin C 3.0 g adding in 20 mL 50% glucose, once per day, and to the test group, one dose of SLD consisting of imperata rhizome 30 g, rehmannia root 30 g, moutain bark 15 g, schizonepeta spike 15 g, divaricate saposhnikovia root 10 g, scutellaria root 15 g, forsythia fruit 15 g, cape-jasmine fruit 10 g, red peony root 10 g, white-stiff silkworm 10 g, broom cypress fruit 15 g, Indian bread 15 g and licorice root 10 g, was given every day by decocting with water. The course of treatment was 4 weeks. Symptoms of patients, including redden-swollen skin, capillary dilatation, inflammatory papula, itching and other discomfort sensation (pain, burning, dry, buckled) were scored before and after treatment according to their severity. The efficacy was evaluated by the change in scores of symptoms, the adverse reactions occurring in the therapeutic course and the relapse rate after treatment were observed as well. RESULTS: The cure-obvious effective rate was 76.32% in the test group and 42.50% in the control group; the total effective rate in them was 94.74% and 77.50% respectively, all showing significant difference (P < 0.05) between groups. In the test group, slight diarrhea appeared in 5 patients and slight nausea with upper abdominal discomfort in 3; while in the control group, slight somnolence appeared in 2, but all these adverse reactions did not affect the treatment. A 3-month follow-up study showed that the relapse rate in the test group was significantly lower than that in the control group (16.00% vs. 42.50% , P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: SLD is effective and safe in treating HDD, with the efficacy better and relapse rate lower than those of treatment with Western medicine alone.