INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF THE ENZYME STEAROYL COA DESATURASE 1 IN PILOSEBACEOUS UNIT MAINTENANCE

Abstract

Adult stem and progenitor cells are sustained in and regulated by cellular niches. However, how niches are maintained is poorly understood. Here, we find that progenitor cells maintain the dermal papilla (DP) niche in adult hair follicles through in a Scd1-dependent manner. Mice deficient in Stearoyl CoA Desaturase 1 (Scd1) develop hair loss, and conditional deletion of SCD1 results in ablation of autocrine Wnt/ß-catenin signalling in LRIG1-expressing matrix progenitors and subsequent loss of Hedgehog paracrine signalling to the DP niche during the hair growth phase. This leads to the depletion of DP cells and in turn, the disappearance of proliferative matrix progenitors and arrested hair growth. We propose that hair matrix progenitor cells maintain the DP niche via Scd1-mediated Wnt and Hedgehog signalling.