Defining Key Genes Regulating Morphogenesis of Apocrine Sweat Gland in Sheepskin

Sheep may serve as an additional system for skin appendage investigation owing to the distributions and histological similarities of apocrine sweat glands in sheep trunk skin and human armpit skin. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying morphogenesis of apocrine sweat gland in sheepskin, transcriptome analyses were conducted to reveal 1631 differentially expressed genes that were mainly enriched in three functional groups (cellular component, molecular function and biological process), particularly in gland, epithelial, hair follicle and skin development. There were 7 GO terms enriched in epithelial cell migration and morphogenesis of branching epithelium that were potentially correlated with the wool follicle peg elongation. Additional 5 GO terms were enriched in gland morphogenesis (20 genes), gland development (42 genes), salivary gland morphogenesis and development (8 genes), branching involved in salivary gland morphogenesis (6 genes) and mammary gland epithelial cell differentiation (4 genes).