title: Identification of skin-expressed genes possibly associated with wool growth regulation of Aohan fine wool sheep.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sheep are valuable resources for the animal fibre industry. Therefore, identifying genes which regulate wool growth would offer strategies for improving the quality of fine wool. In this study, we employed Agilent sheep gene expression microarray and proteomic technology to compare the gene expression patterns of the body side (hair-rich) and groin (hairless) skins of Aohan fine wool sheep (a Chinese indigenous breed).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Comparing the body side to the groin skins (S/G) of Aohan fine wool sheep, the microarray study revealed that 1494 probes were differentially expressed, including 602 more highly expressed and 892 less highly expressed probes. The microarray results were verified by means of quantitative PCR. Cluster analysis could distinguish the body side skin and the groin skin. Based on the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID), 38 of the differentially expressed genes were classified into four categories, namely regulation of receptor binding, multicellular organismal process, protein binding and macromolecular complex. Proteomic study revealed that 187 protein spots showed significant (p < 0.05) differences in their respective expression levels. Among them, 46 protein entries were further identified by MALDI-TOF/MS analyses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Microarray analysis revealed thousands of differentially expressed genes, many of which were possibly associated with wool growth. Several potential gene families might participate in hair growth regulation. Proteomic analysis also indentified hundreds of differentially expressed proteins.
authors.affiliation: Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China. nanliu@sina.com.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Qingdao Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Qingdao, 266100, China. lihegang2000@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Hegang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Qingdao Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Qingdao, 266100, China. kdliu0323@126.com.
authors.forename: Kaidong
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China. 435235085@qq.com.
authors.forename: Juanjuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China. 326178509@qq.com.
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bu
authors.affiliation: Qingdao Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Qingdao, 266100, China. 13518627257@139.com.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210002, China. dewei_nanjing@yahoo.com.cn.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: De
authors.affiliation: Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China. jfliu@qau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jifeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, Beijing, 100084, China. 43835975@qq.com.
authors.forename: Guangling
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China. zhaojinshande@sohu.com.|Qingdao Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Qingdao, 266100, China. zhaojinshande@sohu.com.|China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China. zhaojinshande@sohu.com.
authors.forename: Jinshan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008297:Male; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D034561:Sheep, Domestic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism*; D059467:Transcriptome; D014935:Wool / Q000254:growth & development*