Molecular and Physiological Basis for Hair Loss in Near Naked Hairless and Oak Ridge Rhino-Like Mouse Models: Tracking the Role of the Hairless Gene
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2006 Molecular and Physiological Basis for Hair Loss in Near Naked Hairless and Oak Ridge Rhino-like Mouse Models: Tracking the Role of the Hairless Gene Yutao Liu University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Life Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Liu, Yutao, "Molecular and Physiological Basis for Hair Loss in Near Naked Hairless and Oak Ridge Rhino- like Mouse Models: Tracking the Role of the Hairless Gene. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2006. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/1824 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Yutao Liu entitled "Molecular and Physiological Basis for Hair Loss in Near Naked Hairless and Oak Ridge Rhino-like Mouse Models: Tracking the Role of the Hairless Gene." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Life Sciences. Brynn H. Voy, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Naima Moustaid-Moussa, Yisong Wang, Rogert Hettich Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Yutao Liu entitled “Molecular and Physiological Basis for Hair Loss in Near Naked Hairless and Oak Ridge Rhino-like Mouse Models: Tracking the Role of the Hairless Gene.” I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Life Sciences. Brynn H Voy Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Naima Moustaid-Moussa Yisong Wang Robert Hettich Acceptance for the Council: Anne Mayhew Vice Chancellor and Dean of Graduate Studies (Original Signatures are on file with official student records) Molecular and Physiological Basis for Hair Loss in Near Naked Hairless and Oak Ridge Rhino-like Mouse Models: Tracking the Role of the Hairless Gene A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Yutao Liu May 2006 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my wife, Fangfang Chen, my daughter, Sabrina Liu, my parents and parents-in-law, and my brother, for always supporting me, encouraging me, and inspiring me to make progress to reach my goals. ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my wife, my daughter, my parents and parents-in-law, and the rest of the family, for their great support and encouragement throughout my study. I wish to thank all those who helped me to finish my PhD degree in life sciences. I would like to thank my major advisor, Dr. Brynn H Voy, for the great guidance and mentoring. It was a great honor to have my dissertation research done in her lab. I would also like to thank Dr. Naima Moustaid-Moussa, Dr. Yisong Wang, and Dr. Robert Hettich, for serving my committee. I would also like to thank Dr. Yisong Wang for the help with the protein work with hairless. I would like to thank Dr. John Sundberg in Jackson Laboratory for the great help on the pathology with both mutant mice. I would like to thank Dr. Arnold Saxton in UT for help with part of microarray data analysis. I would like to thank Dr. Edward Michaud to provide the mutant mice for my dissertation research. I would also like to thank Mrs. Suchita Das in Dr. Brynn Voy’s lab with all the great helps every day throughout my research. Without the help from Mr. Don Carpenter, Robert Olszewski, Lisa Branstetters, Ginger Shaw, K.T. Cain, and other animal care personnel, I will not be able to do the dissertation research at all. I would like to thank Mr. Xiaochen Lu in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the support with in situ hybridization. I would also like to thank Dr. Peter Hoyt, Dr. Mitchel Doktycz and Dr. Dorothea Thompson in Oak Ridge National Laboratory for help in using the microarray scanner, which is critical for my research. I felt very grateful to all the members in Dr. Brynn Voy’s lab for their endless technical and scientific help as well as their friendship. I would like to thank all the people in the group of Mammalian Genetics and Genomics for endless support. I would like to acknowledge UT-ORNL graduate school of Genome Science and Technology, Life Sciences Division at ORNL, and United States Department of Energy for the financial support during the research. iii Abstract Hairless mice have been widely used in basic research and clinical trials. Two new mouse mutants with hair loss arose spontaneously in the breeding colony of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The first homozygotes mutant, called near naked hairless (Hrn), never develops a normal coat, while heterozygotes display a sparse coat and become completely nude as they age. The Hrn/Hrn mutant mice are significantly smaller in body size and have very short, curly, and few vibrissae. Histological analysis revealed premature keratinization in the precortical region of hair follicles, formation of mineralized dermal cysts, and loss of hair follicles. Adult heterozygotes display pili multigemini (i.e. more than one hair from one piliary canal) after the first hair cycle, suggesting abnormal regulation of hair shaft formation by the mutation. A mutation was not identified in the coding region of Hr nor in candidate genes around Hr, suggesting a possible regulatory mutation of Hr. Microarray analysis was used to survey the gene expression profile and to identify the molecular mechanisms altered by the Hrn mutation. Several pathways including Wnt/β-catenin, TGF-β, and apoptosis are significantly altered in Hrn mutants, indicating the involvement of Hrn in these pathways. Hrn mutant mice are also suggested to be a research model for human MUHH (Marie Unna Hereditary Hypotrichosis). The second mouse mutant, called rhino-like (HrrhR), displays progressive and random hair loss and wrinkling skin, leading to a rhinocerotic appearance. Histological analysis revealed the formation of utricles at as early as 10 days of age, the formation of dermal cysts, and the destruction of hair follicles. Since the phenotype in the homozygous mutants is very close to that in Hrrh mutant mice, the genomic DNA of Hr gene was directly sequenced. A nonsense mutation was identified in the exon 12, leading to significantly reduced Hr expression, probably due to nonsense-mediated decay. The allele was named as rhino in Oak Ridge with the symbol HrrhR (R for Oak Ridge). Microarray analysis of skin from mice at 7, 10, and 35 days was applied to identify the downstream events of the HrrhR mutation. Several genes including Krt1-10, Krt2-1, IL- 17, and Itgb4, were identified as the potential targets of HrrhR. Wnt/β-catenin, apoptosis, and ERK/MAPK signaling pathways were altered in HrrhR/HrrhR mutant mice, suggesting iv a possible role of Hr to regulate these pathways. Microarray analysis also shows many immune-related genes with differential expression, indicating the possible involvement of Hr in immune response. Identification of this new Hr allele and its related research allows further understanding about the function of Hr and the mechanisms of alopecia, i.e. hair loss. v Table of Contents Chapter Page 1. Introduction .……………………………………………………….…………………. 1 2. The mammalian hair follicle and alterations that lead to hair loss …….……………... 3 Reasons to study hair loss in mice ………………………………………..…….… 3 Structure of the hair follicle ……………………………..…………………..….… 4 Hair follicle morphogenesis …………………………………………………..…... 4 Hair follicle cycling ………………………………………………………………. 8 General mechanisms of hair growth disorders ………..……………………….… 10 Foxn1 ……………………………..……………………………………….… 12 Hoxc13 …………………………..………………………………….…..….... 14 Hairless and hair loss …………………….…………………………………….…16 History of hairless mice …………....…………………………..….….….….. 16 Features of Hr gene ………………………………………………..……..….. 16 Mutations in mice and phenotypes …………………………..…….…….….. 20 Mutations in human and related diseases …………………………………..…23 About this dissertation …………………………………………………………... 25 3. Experimental methods and materials used in this study ……………………………...27 Animals and tissue collection …………………………………..………….……. 27 PCR reactions and DNA sequencing of Hr ………………………………..….….27 Genotyping of HrrhR mice …………………………………………..……..….…..30 Total RNA isolation ……………………………………………………..….…….30 Microarray construction, labeling, hybridization and data analysis ………...……31 Quantitative real time RT-PCR …….……………………………………..…..…..32 Northern blot …………………………………………………………..…….……33 Histological analysis …………………………………………………..…….……34 Scanning electron microscopy ………………………………………..……….….35 In situ hybridization ……………………………………………………..….…….35 Hematology analysis …………………………………………………...…………35 vi 4. The near naked hairless (Hrn) mutation disrupts hair formation but is not due to a mutation in the hairless