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Single-cell transcriptomics defines keratinocyte differentiation in avian scutate scales

The growth of skin appendages, such as hair, feathers and scales, depends on terminal differentiation of epidermal keratinocytes. Here, we investigated keratinocyte differentiation in avian scutate scales. Cells were isolated from the skin on the legs of 1-day old chicks and subjected to single-cell...

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Autores principales: Lachner, Julia, Ehrlich, Florian, Wielscher, Matthias, Farlik, Matthias, Hermann, Marcela, Tschachler, Erwin, Eckhart, Leopold
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8742010/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34997067
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04082-1
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author Lachner, Julia
Ehrlich, Florian
Wielscher, Matthias
Farlik, Matthias
Hermann, Marcela
Tschachler, Erwin
Eckhart, Leopold
author_facet Lachner, Julia
Ehrlich, Florian
Wielscher, Matthias
Farlik, Matthias
Hermann, Marcela
Tschachler, Erwin
Eckhart, Leopold
author_sort Lachner, Julia
collection PubMed
description The growth of skin appendages, such as hair, feathers and scales, depends on terminal differentiation of epidermal keratinocytes. Here, we investigated keratinocyte differentiation in avian scutate scales. Cells were isolated from the skin on the legs of 1-day old chicks and subjected to single-cell transcriptomics. We identified two distinct populations of differentiated keratinocytes. The first population was characterized by mRNAs encoding cysteine-rich keratins and corneous beta-proteins (CBPs), also known as beta-keratins, of the scale type, indicating that these cells form hard scales. The second population of differentiated keratinocytes contained mRNAs encoding cysteine-poor keratins and keratinocyte-type CBPs, suggesting that these cells form the soft interscale epidermis. We raised an antibody against keratin 9-like cysteine-rich 2 (KRT9LC2), which is encoded by an mRNA enriched in the first keratinocyte population. Immunostaining confirmed expression of KRT9LC2 in the suprabasal epidermal layers of scutate scales but not in interscale epidermis. Keratinocyte differentiation in chicken leg skin resembled that in human skin with regard to the transcriptional upregulation of epidermal differentiation complex genes and genes involved in lipid metabolism and transport. In conclusion, this study defines gene expression programs that build scutate scales and interscale epidermis of birds and reveals evolutionarily conserved keratinocyte differentiation genes.
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spelling pubmed-87420102022-01-11 Single-cell transcriptomics defines keratinocyte differentiation in avian scutate scales Lachner, Julia Ehrlich, Florian Wielscher, Matthias Farlik, Matthias Hermann, Marcela Tschachler, Erwin Eckhart, Leopold Sci Rep Article The growth of skin appendages, such as hair, feathers and scales, depends on terminal differentiation of epidermal keratinocytes. Here, we investigated keratinocyte differentiation in avian scutate scales. Cells were isolated from the skin on the legs of 1-day old chicks and subjected to single-cell transcriptomics. We identified two distinct populations of differentiated keratinocytes. The first population was characterized by mRNAs encoding cysteine-rich keratins and corneous beta-proteins (CBPs), also known as beta-keratins, of the scale type, indicating that these cells form hard scales. The second population of differentiated keratinocytes contained mRNAs encoding cysteine-poor keratins and keratinocyte-type CBPs, suggesting that these cells form the soft interscale epidermis. We raised an antibody against keratin 9-like cysteine-rich 2 (KRT9LC2), which is encoded by an mRNA enriched in the first keratinocyte population. Immunostaining confirmed expression of KRT9LC2 in the suprabasal epidermal layers of scutate scales but not in interscale epidermis. Keratinocyte differentiation in chicken leg skin resembled that in human skin with regard to the transcriptional upregulation of epidermal differentiation complex genes and genes involved in lipid metabolism and transport. In conclusion, this study defines gene expression programs that build scutate scales and interscale epidermis of birds and reveals evolutionarily conserved keratinocyte differentiation genes. Nature Publishing Group UK 2022-01-07 /pmc/articles/PMC8742010/ /pubmed/34997067 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04082-1 Text en © The Author(s) 2022 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Article
Lachner, Julia
Ehrlich, Florian
Wielscher, Matthias
Farlik, Matthias
Hermann, Marcela
Tschachler, Erwin
Eckhart, Leopold
Single-cell transcriptomics defines keratinocyte differentiation in avian scutate scales
title Single-cell transcriptomics defines keratinocyte differentiation in avian scutate scales
title_full Single-cell transcriptomics defines keratinocyte differentiation in avian scutate scales
title_fullStr Single-cell transcriptomics defines keratinocyte differentiation in avian scutate scales
title_full_unstemmed Single-cell transcriptomics defines keratinocyte differentiation in avian scutate scales
title_short Single-cell transcriptomics defines keratinocyte differentiation in avian scutate scales
title_sort single-cell transcriptomics defines keratinocyte differentiation in avian scutate scales
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8742010/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34997067
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04082-1
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