DNA Damage-Inducible Transcript 4 Is an Innate Surveillant of Hair Follicular Stress in Vitamin D Receptor Knockout Mice and a Regulator of Wound Re-Epithelialization.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-26-2016

JAX Source

Int J Mol Sci 2016 Nov 26; 17(12):E1984

Volume

17

Issue

12

ISSN

1422-0067

PMID

27898044

Abstract

Mice and human patients with impaired vitamin D receptor (VDR) signaling have normal developmental hair growth but display aberrant post-morphogenic hair cycle progression associated with alopecia. In addition, VDR(-/-) mice exhibit impaired cutaneous wound healing. We undertook experiments to determine whether the stress-inducible regulator of energy homeostasis, DNA damage-inducible transcript 4 (Ddit4), is involved in these processes. By analyzing hair cycle activation in vivo, we show that VDR(-/-) mice at day 14 exhibit increased Ddit4 expression within follicular stress compartments. At day 29, degenerating VDR(-/-) follicular keratinocytes, but not bulge stem cells, continue to exhibit an increase in Ddit4 expression. At day 47, when normal follicles and epidermis are quiescent and enriched for Ddit4, VDR(-/-) skin lacks Ddit4 expression. In a skin wound healing assay, the re-epithelialized epidermis in wildtype (WT) but not VDR(-/-) animals harbor a population of Ddit4- and Krt10-positive cells. Our study suggests that VDR regulates Ddit4 expression during epidermal homeostasis and the wound healing process, while elevated Ddit4 represents an early growth-arresting stress response within VDR(-/-) follicles. Int J Mol Sci 2016 Nov 26; 17(12):E1984.

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