RACK1 prevents premature differentiation of epidermal progenitors by inhibiting IRF6 expression. RACK1 prevents premature differentiation of epidermal progenitors by inhibiting IRF6 expression

To continuously maintain barrier function, skin progenitor cells perpetually proliferate and differentiate to contribute to the outermost layers. Perturbations in the balance between stem cell self-renewal and differentiation leads to a variety of disorders. Thus, it is critical to identify the factors that govern progenitor cell fate decisions. Here, we show RACK1 (GNB2l1) to be necessary to maintain epidermal progenitor cell self-renewal by transcriptionally repressing IRF6, a transcription factor critical for epithelial differentiation program initiation. Overall design: RNAseq analysis of human epidermal progenitor cells transfected with shRNA against RACK1 and Ctr. RNA sequenced in replicates.

为持续维持皮肤屏障功能，皮肤祖细胞会持续增殖并分化，以参与构成皮肤最外层组织。干细胞自我更新与分化间的平衡紊乱会引发多种病症，因此鉴定调控祖细胞命运决定的关键因子具有重要意义。本研究证实，RACK1（GNB2l1）可通过转录抑制干扰素调节因子6（IRF6）——一种对上皮分化程序启动至关重要的转录因子——来维持表皮祖细胞的自我更新能力。整体实验设计：对转染靶向RACK1的短发夹RNA（shRNA）及对照（Ctr）的人表皮祖细胞开展RNA测序（RNAseq）分析，所有测序样本均设置生物学重复。