RNA sequencing of slow-and fast-cycling epidermal stem cells vs hair follicle stem cells in young vs old mice

This study was performed to compare transcriptomic changes in the heterogeneous mouse skin epidermal stem cells and hair follicle stem cells (HFSC) populations during chronological aging. Slow-cycling stem cells (label retaining cells, LRCs), fast-cycling stem cells (non-label retaining cells, nLRCs) and hair follicle stem cells express unique gene signatures in young age (2 months old) and have independent stem cell identities. The changes in aging stem cells lineage identities have been a topic of discussion and here we examined if distinct stem cells cycling speed affects their aging process by comparing the transcriptomes of slow-and fast-cycling epidermal stem cells. Our data indicates the loss of unique stem cell identities in aging slow or fast-cycling epidermal stem cells or HFSC at 2 years of age with intermediary effects seen at 1.5 year old. Overall design: mRNA expression analysis from slow-and fast-cycling epidermal stem cells and hair follicle stem cells at 2 months old, 1.5 year old and 2 years old.

本研究旨在比较时序衰老过程中，异质性小鼠皮肤表皮干细胞与毛囊干细胞（hair follicle stem cells，HFSC）群体的转录组变化。慢循环干细胞（标记滞留细胞，label retaining cells，LRCs）、快循环干细胞（非标记滞留细胞，non-label retaining cells，nLRCs）与毛囊干细胞在年轻阶段（2月龄）具有独特的基因表达特征，并具备独立的干细胞身份。衰老干细胞的谱系身份改变一直是学界热议的议题，本研究通过比较慢循环与快循环表皮干细胞的转录组，探究不同干细胞增殖速率是否会影响其衰老进程。本研究数据显示，在2年龄小鼠体内，慢循环或快循环表皮干细胞、毛囊干细胞均出现了独特干细胞身份的丧失；而在1.5年龄小鼠中可观察到中等程度的变化。整体实验设计：对2月龄、1.5年龄及2年龄小鼠的慢循环、快循环表皮干细胞及毛囊干细胞开展mRNA表达分析。