title: Sox2 in the dermal papilla niche controls hair growth by fine-tuning BMP signaling in differentiating hair shaft progenitors.
abstract: How dermal papilla (DP) niche cells regulate hair follicle progenitors to control hair growth remains unclear. Using Tbx18(Cre) to target embryonic DP precursors, we ablate the transcription factor Sox2 early and efficiently, resulting in diminished hair shaft outgrowth. We find that DP niche expression of Sox2 controls the migration speed of differentiating hair shaft progenitors. Transcriptional profiling of Sox2 null DPs reveals increased Bmp6 and decreased BMP inhibitor Sostdc1, a direct Sox2 transcriptional target. Subsequently, we identify upregulated BMP signaling in knockout hair shaft progenitors and demonstrate that Bmp6 inhibits cell migration, an effect that can be attenuated by Sostdc1. A shorter and Sox2-negative hair type lacks Sostdc1 in the DP and shows reduced migration and increased BMP activity of hair shaft progenitors. Collectively, our data identify Sox2 as a key regulator of hair growth that controls progenitor migration by fine-tuning BMP-mediated mesenchymal-epithelial crosstalk.
authors.affiliation: Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clavel
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grisanti
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zemla
authors.forename: Amelie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rezza
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barros
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sennett
authors.forename: Amin Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Mazloom
authors.forename: Chi-Yeh
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Xiaoqiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Chen-Leng
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Larysa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pevny
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nicolis
authors.forename: Avi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ma'ayan
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rendl
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000818:Animals; D055418:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 6 / Q000378:metabolism; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism*; D002465:Cell Movement; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D006197:Hair / Q000254:growth & development*; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; C525817:Bmp6 protein, mouse; D055418:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 6; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors; C483887:Sostdc1 protein, mouse; C527783:Sox2 protein, mouse