LncRNA RP11-818O24.3 promotes hair-follicle recovery via FGF2-PI3K/Akt signal pathway

Linlin Bao; Zhaojun Sun; Lin Dang; Qianqian Zhang; Lixiong Zheng; Fang Yang; Jianglin Zhang

doi:10.1007/s10616-024-00624-3

LncRNA RP11-818O24.3 promotes hair-follicle recovery via FGF2-PI3K/Akt signal pathway

Cytotechnology. 2024 Aug;76(4):425-439. doi: 10.1007/s10616-024-00624-3. Epub 2024 May 19.

Authors

Linlin Bao^{1

2}, Zhaojun Sun^{1

2}, Lin Dang^{1

2}, Qianqian Zhang^{1

2}, Lixiong Zheng^{1

2}, Fang Yang^{1

2}, Jianglin Zhang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dermatology, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University; The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), No. 1017, Dongmen North Road, Luohu District, Shenzhen, 518020 Guangdong China.
² Candidate Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Skin Diseases, Shenzhen, 518020 Guangdong China.

Abstract

A previous study indicated that patients with androgenic alopecia (AGA) have significantly reduced levels of LncRNA RP11-818O24.3. This study investigates whether LncRNA RP11-818O24.3 promotes hair-follicle recovery and its possible mechanism. Hair alteration and cutaneous histopathological changes induced by testosterone propionate were observed by H&E and bromodeoxyuridinc (BrdU) stain to evaluate the therapeutic effect of LncRNA RP11-818O24.3 in C57BL/6 J mice. The cellular viability was analyzed in LncRNA RP11-818O24.3-transfected human hair-follicle stem cells (HFSCs) in vitro. The signaling pathways and pro-proliferative factors were investigated by transcriptomic gene sequencing and qRT-PCR. LncRNA RP11-818O24.3 transfection successfully recovered hair growth and hair-follicle cells in AGA mice. In a series of HFSC studies in vitro, LncRNA RP11-818O24.3 transfection greatly promoted cellular proliferation and decreased cellular apoptosis. Transcriptome gene sequencing suggested that the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt pathway was upregulated by LncRNA RP11-818O24.3. The qRT-PCR results showed that fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2 was 14-times upregulated after LncRNA RP11-818O24.3 transfection. Hair-follicle recovery activity of LncRNA RP11-818O24.3 may involve the upregulation of FGF2 and PI3K-Akt to promote follicle stem cell survival. These data not only provide a theoretical basis for AGA development but also reveal a novel therapeutic method for AGA patients.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10616-024-00624-3.

Keywords: Androgenic alopecia; Fibroblast growth factor 2; Human hair-follicle stem cells; PI3K/Akt pathway; lncRNA.

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