MiR-21 regulated hair follicle cycle development in Cashmere goats by targeting FGF18 and SMAD7

Abstract

Increasing Cashmere production can add value because it is the primary product of Cashmere goats. Recent years, peoples find miRNAs are crucial in regulating the development of hair follicle. Following Solexa sequencing, many miRNAs were distinguishingly expressed in telogen skin samples of goats and sheep in earlier study. But the method through which miR-21 controls the growth of hair follicles is still ambiguous. Bioinformatics analysis was used to predict the target genes of miR-21. The mRNA level of miR-21 in telogen Cashmere goat skins was higher than in anagen, according to the results of qRT-PCR, and the target genes expressed similarly with miR-21. Western blot showed similar trend, the protein expression of FGF18 and SMAD7 were lower in anagen samples. The Dual-Luciferase reporter assay confirmed miRNA-21's relationship with its target gene, and the consequences indicated found FGF18 and SMAD7 have positive correlations with miR-21. Western blot and qRT-PCR distinguished the expression of protein and mRNA in miR-21 and its target genes. According to the consequence, we found that target genes expression was increased by miR-21 in HaCaT cells. This study identified that miR-21 might take part in the development of Cashmere goat’s hair follicles by targeting FGF18 and SMAD7.

Keywords:

• Cashmere goat
• miR-21
• anagen
• telogen
• FGF18
• SMAD7

Ethical approval

Animal experiments were strictly carried out accordance with the recommendations of Jilin University Animal Care and Use Committee.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No.32172806), Scientific research project of Education Department of Jilin Province (JJKH20220399KJ) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province (20200201139JC).